Lonmin, government showdown
|Published
Workers, many of them believing they were protected by muti, are fired on in this picture from Thursday's shooting incident at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in which 34 miners died. Now the government and Lonmin are clashing over a deadline for workers to return by 7am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Workers, many of them believing they were protected by muti, are fired on in this picture from Thursday's shooting incident at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in which 34 miners died. Now the government and Lonmin are clashing over a deadline for workers to return by 7am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012.
A serious clash is looming between the government and Lonmin after a deadline from the mine management for workers to return by 7am on Tuesday was rejected by the government.
The government said there should be no action until after the week of mourning declared by President Jacob Zuma on Sunday.
Lonmin management remained adamant that employees return to their posts on Tuesday or face the axe.
This, they said, was an attempt to stabilise the situation at the tragedy-hit mine in North West.
Protesters insisted that they will not return to work until their pay has been raised to R12 500 a month and they have buried their slain colleagues.
Earlier on Tuesday increased noise levels could be heard from the mine’s Rowland Shaft and smoke was spewing from an adjacent processing plant’s industrial chimney – signs that work was going on.
People were seen walking in and out of the nearby Wonderkop informal settlement, but all said they were not going to work.
Men standing around at the hostel compound said only the increase they were demanding would get them back at work.
They also said they needed to bury their colleagues.
But it remained unclear how many striking Lonmin workers had heeded their employer’s call to return to work on Tuesday morning.
Lonmin’s executive vice-president, Mark Munroe, speaking on Talk Radio 702 on Tuesday, said it was not their intention to fire anyone, but they could not guarantee that workers who failed to report for duty on Tuesday would not be dismissed.
“I don’t think this is about how many we would be firing. The focus is on restoring normality,” he said. Munroe said operations at the Marikana mine needed to continue at an optimum level and they wanted miners to meet outside their respective shafts on Tuesday.
“Each shaft will have a meeting, with instructions before proceeding underground,” he said.
Those who failed to do so would face disciplinary action.
Talk Radio 702 presenter John Robbie pointed out to Munroe that Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa had called on the mine to respect the mourning period, which Munroe agreed was the case.
Asked whether Lonmin would still go ahead and fire those who did not return to work on Tuesday, Munroe failed to answer directly, but eventually conceded that the strikers would face disciplinary measures, which could result in the loss of their jobs.
On Tuesday morning Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Collins Chabane called on Lonmin to suspend its deadline.
“We hope they will understand the gravity of the situation,” Chabane said.
After discussions with mine management “we thought they [the mine] understood that”.
“We thought they should consider suspending the deadline – and we thought they agreed.
“We’ll confirm this morning,” he said.
Lonmin extended its deadline on Monday for workers to return to their jobs to on Tuesday.
On Tuesday the mining company said it would only comment on the call to suspend the deadline once it had determined how many people showed up for work. Its intention was to find a reasonable solution to the situation.
Chabane said there were fears that violence would erupt again.
“The situation is volatile. People are worried that the violence will flare up again, and that… should concern everyone.”
Chabane said people had to remember that the “violence didn’t start with the shooting; the violence has been there”.
Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the protest by miners, which started on August 10.
The protest action culminated in clashes with the police on Thursday, when 34 miners were shot dead and more than 70 were injured.
Mthethwa said last night that the ultimatum issued to striking workers would not be effected this week.
“The president… has declared this week as a mourning week. We want all, including mine bosses, to respect this,” Mthethwa told reporters in Rustenburg.
The protests were believed to be linked to rivalry between the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union over recognition agreements at the mine. Workers also wanted higher pay.
Lonmin has suffered a blow since the illegal strike began on August 10, losing about 15 000 platinum ounces and seeing a drop in share prices.
On Thursday and Friday no work was done at all.
And while “almost one-third” of the company’s 28 000 employees returned to work on Monday, so few rock drill operators arrived that another day of production was lost.