The National Union of Mineworkers provided weapons so its members could protect themselves at Marikana, the Farlam commission of inquiry has heard.
Union membership is declining, but public servants are swelling the federation’s ranks.
Amcu have claimed the planned retrenchments in the mining sector were an attempt to thwart their continued growth in former NUM strongholds.
Stranded workers have been seeking legal recourse after operations were suspended due to ongoing violence. Kwanele Sosibo reports.
The mighty Cosatu once revolutionised the labour scene, but did its transformation into an efficient bureaucracy unwittingly lead to Marikana?
The business sector and unions have expressed approval of the appointment of Cyril Ramaphosa to the post of ANC deputy president.
Farlam commission of inquiry chairperson Ian Farlam has cautioned against intimidation after allegations of an altercation between two rival unions.
Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa has come under scrutiny at the Farlam commission over his agenda on the day of the Marikana massacre.
AMCU’s Joseph Mathunjwa was accused of misleading the police into believing that workers would disarm on the morning of August 16.
Amcu’s leader Joseph Mathunjwa has done very little talking at the Marikana commission. Yet when the dust settled, he emerged somewhat vindicated.
Two people have been shot dead at Harmony Gold’s mine in Carletonville, seemingly thanks to rivalry between NUM and Amcu members at the mine.
When Cyril Ramaphosa was deployed to the private sector in the mid-90s, it was sold to him as a decade-long break from politics.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has called for a review of all minimum wage agreements.
Clashes between SAPS, miners and trade unionists show the political standoff developing in the North West’s platinum mining belt will deepen.
Despite the negativity about it among miners, the National Union of Mineworkers still believes that it can win them back, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
In media coverage of the strikes, no effort has been spared to demonise the National Union of Mineworkersm, writes reader Mathew Blatchford.
Although the National Union of Mineworkers has welcomed the police action, mine workers want their colleagues freed, writes Kwanele Sosibo.
Platinum company Kameni’s promised sharing of profits has left communities, in Kalkfontein and Buffelshoek underwhelmed, writes Niren Tolsi.
A slow, sure, violent implosion appears to be building in South Africa’s largest and formerly most powerful union – the National Union of Mineworkers.
Hundreds of Amplats workers were turned away by police as they attempted to storm the NUM’s Rustenburg regional offices to cancel their membership.
Gold mine owners and unions representing striking workers say they have reached a deal aimed at ending months of industrial unrest.
Sacked Amplats mineworkers have marched to the regional office of the National Union of Mineworkers in Rustenburg to cancel their membership.
Sacked Anglo American Platinum miners have refused to accept their dismissals for embarking on a wildcat strike.
Hundreds of the 12 000 miners sacked by Amplats have rejected their dismissal and some say they will use violence to get their jobs back.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says discussions on reopening wage negotiations with striking mineworkers will begin on Thursday.
Following threats and intimidation of its members at Anglo Platinum, NUM has reported that the region’s chairperson was petrol-bombed at his home.
The Farlam Commission of Inquiry has been given a four-month deadline for completion – but matters could be moving too quickly.
Zwelinzima Vavi says the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the NUM will take forward mineworkers’ demands for better wages in all sectors.
The crisis that has shaken SA’s mines shows workers’ distrust for trade unions, up to now the guardians of social peace despite deep inequality.
Senior Congress of South African Trade Union leaders have called for drastic labour law changes, including the amendment of the Labour Relations Act.
The battle lines have been drawn as opposing factions within Cosatu square off for a fierce contest that threatens to paralyse the organisation.
Cosatu’s conference must be energised by the need to find a response to the crisis at SA’s mines, rather than enervated by ANC factional politics.