Miners intensify wage demand

Thousands of miners marched from Waverly Park along Athol Oaklands Road, which had been closed off to traffic, to Lonmin offices in Melrose Arch. A stage had been erected where union president, Joseph Mathunjwa addressed the miners. Although the march was peaceful, a group of police in riot gear had assembled behind the stage.

Members working at Lonmin, Implala Platinum and Anglo American Platinum have been on strike since 23 January after downing tools in demand of a minimum wage of R12 500 per month. They rejected a nine percent wage increase by the companies.

Mathunjwa said a trust fund had been established to sustain the lives of striking miners who were without income due to the strike. He said miners from other industries and foreign funders would contribute to the trust as they intensified their demand to end “exploitive slavery”.

“Freedom does not mean having a black president, freedom is in the economy,” said Mathunjwa while addressing members for two hours in the scorching sun.

“Lonmin massacred our people in Marikana, but we are still singing the song of R12 500. I forewarn you Lonmin, you close down one shaft, there will be no open shaft.”

A miner hoisted a poster which read, “If Lonmin cannot afford this amount [they] must leave our country. We are sweating underground.” A slogan on miners’ T-shirts read, “They [Marikana miners] died for a living wage R12 500. The struggle continues.”

A memorandum was handed over to Lonmin CEO, Ben Magara who said they acknowledged the challenges the workers faced. “We’re working hard, but it’s difficult because the economic reality of our business is such that your demand is unaffordable,” he said. Mathunjwa asked him to refrain from sowing division among union members.

A week before, members had marched to Impala Platinum offices. Mathunjwa said they would march to the British embassy in Pretoria before travelling to Cape Town to hand over another memorandum to Parliament if their demands were not met.

The strike was estimated to have resulted in R11 billion in lost revenue and about R5 billion in earnings lost to employees.