The ongoing strike by thousands of workers at the Northam Platinum mine entered its second week on Monday, the mine said.
Mine spokesperson Marion Brower said negotiations between the management and workers’ representatives started on Monday morning. She said the mine had filed a court interdict in an attempt to end the strike, which began on April 29.
Since Monday last week, she said, the Northam mine, near Thabazimbi in Limpopo, was losing about 1 100 ounces of platinum group metals output, or about R12-million in revenue, as a result of the strike.
The workers, who are mainly members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), are striking to push home demands for the removal of the mine’s two top industrial relations officials as well as the relocation of Northam chief executive Glyn Lewis from the mine to the company’s head office in Johannesburg.
NUM spokesperson Lesiba Leshoka said the strike was not called by the union, but was a spontaneous action taken by workers concerned about certain issues.
He said the union supported the strike as the workers’ demands were justifiable.
”The mine has to be operated by a mine manager, not a CEO. He should be based at the head offices,” Leshoka said.
The industrial officials had to be removed as black workers were fired for offences that their white counterparts were not being fired for.
Leshoka said the union hoped that workers’ demands would be met during Monday’s negotiations. — Sapa