By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Sibanye-Stillwater and striking unions at the company’s gold mines met with Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe on Monday.
Another meeting between Sibanye and labour is set to take place on Thursday.
Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted confirmed that the parties met with Mantashe, where he urged them to continue engaging until they reached a settlement.
The meeting was prompted after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address at a Cosatu rally at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Sunday was disrupted by aggrieved Sibanye-Stillwater employees who refused to allow him to speak.
Against a demand for an R1 000 increase in each year of a three-year wage agreement, Sibanye has recently adjusted its offer to Category 4 to 8 employees upwards, proposing annual increases of R800 plus an R50 increase in the living-out allowance each year.
Amcu general secretary, Jeff Mphahlele, says they met with Sibanye-Stillwater on May 2 for another round of wage negotiations, characterizing the company’s attitude as “arrogant” and “coming to the negotiation table empty-handed.
“We are meeting again on Thursday [May 5] to look for a resolution. But on the other hand, the trade unions are intensifying the strike. We are calling for another secondary strike from all other mines, including the platinum workers, “Mphahlele said.
Both Amcu and Sibanye-Stillwater confirmed strike action had been ongoing at the company’s gold mines, including Beatrix in the Free State, and Driefontein and Kloof in Gauteng province’s fabled Witwatersrand Gold Basin. The three mines in 2021 contributed 855,000 oz. gold to the company’s production profile.The three mines employed about 30,000 people in 2021.
While rounds of wage negotiations are a regular feature of doing business in South Africa, the two mining unions and Sibanye-Stillwater have been locking horns for months now.
According to the company, as of Tuesday, the 56th day of the strike, category 4 employees have each lost R30 912 in wages, while category 8 employees have lost R38 304.