DA's James Lorimer
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Parliament’s Mineral Resources Portfolio Committee must be recalled as a matter of urgency to deal with the breakdown of negotiations in the strike-ravaged platinum-mining sector, South Africa’s Opposition Shadow Mining Minister James Lorimer urged on Tuesday.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) mining spokesperson has requested committee chairperson Faith Bikani to convene an urgent meeting to address the breakdown in the talks, which has left a spate of violence, arson and looting in its wake.
Negotiations between the world's three largest platinum producers, Lonmin, Impala Platinum and Anglo American Platinum and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union broke down acrimoniously and possibly irretrievably last Thursday despite repeated efforts at all levels to end the 14-week strike.
Lorimer noted in a media release that relations between the parties seemed to have degenerated to such an extent that a solution appeared to be unlikely in the near future.
AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa’s subsequent retort that “this is not a strike about percentages but a revolution” has received widespread media coverage and, to make matters worse, violence, arson and looting swept through the Rustenburg platinum belt during the Freedom Day weekend.
Police had to use water cannon and stun grenades to disperse rioters on Sunday after Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula and other African National Congress (ANC) election campaigners were attacked by rock-throwing protesters, the house of an ANC councillor was burnt down, a shopping centre next to Impala Platinum’s Number 9 shaft was looted and a community hall torched.
Lorimer warned that failure to create stability would decimate both domestic and foreign investor confidence in platinum investment and destroy prospects of future growth in the industry, depriving tens of thousands of South Africans of jobs, including non-striking employees still at work.
The 5 000 mining jobs lost in February and March already represent a -26.5% change, according to Adcorp’s Employment Index.
Lorimer added that it was now essential that the portfolio committee be recalled in order to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities of doing everything possible to resolve the ongoing dispute.
In particular, all parties should be summoned, an inquiry initiated into the strike’s underlying causes and recommendations made to restore stability.
In terms of Parliamentary procedure, a portfolio committee meeting can be called at any time, even during recess, and, given that the fourth democratic Parliament would continue until midnight on 6 May – the day before the general election – there was ample time for Parliament to play its part in trying to help end the crisis, the DA mining head added.