Pretoria – Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe will on Friday ask stakeholders in the mining sector to make commitments aimed at averting a potential crisis in the mining industry.
Spokesperson for the Deputy President Thabo Masebe said on Wednesday Motlanthe will meet with trade unions, the Chamber of Mines and several government departments in Pretoria from 9:30am where he will request all parties to commit to bringing stability to the industry ahead of the annual wage talks.
The meeting comes after President Jacob Zuma asked Motlanthe two weeks ago to step in to stabilise the mining environment and to calm investor fears over labour unrest. He has since met separately with mining bosses, trade unions and government departments.
“The purpose is to look at the bold steps that need to be taken by all the role players to stabilise the mining sector and to avoid a crisis that could have a devastating impact on the economy.
“Government wants parties to make a commitment that they will conduct their business in terms of the law,” he said.
Friday’s meeting comes after tensions between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) have returned to the spotlight with the two battling over bargaining rights at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in Rustenburg in the North West.
After the Marikana tragedy that left 44 people dead after an unprotected strike in August last year, Zuma appointed a judicial commission of inquiry – which is currently underway in Pretoria – to probe the circumstances that led to deaths.
This was followed by wage negotiations facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) where all the parties were later asked to sign a Peace Accord.
Government’s Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster has committed to increase police visibility in the area after two fatal shootings involving mineworkers were reported at the area.
Masebe said the Marikana Peace Accord would be brought back to the table. He said it was central to stability talks.
“A Peace Accord was signed so this is obviously one of the issues that the parties must commit to conduct themselves [in line with] the labour legislation in the country to the extent that the Peace Accord is relevant.
“They will have to revisit the Peace Accord to ask: ‘Have we done all the things that we committed ourselves to do in the Peace Accord?’. They will have to go back to that and look at what they have done.”
AMCU threatened to go on strike to demand to be recognised as a majority bargaining union at Lonmin. The union is currently in talks with the mine and has said it will soon issue a strike notice should negotiations fall through.
On Wednesday, Masebe said the Lonmin-Amcu matter would not form part of Motlanthe’s meeting.
“The meeting on Friday is not a bargaining chamber or negotiating between unions and employers. It will not be looking into specific issues between the employer and a company. Those are matters that are dealt with by the workers representatives through their unions and their concerned companies,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
