An empty bus that’s supposed to be taking Lonmin Plc (LMI) employees back to work rolled along the dusty main road in Marikana in the heart of South Africa’s platinum belt, where miners have been on strike for four months.
“You can see for yourself,” said Jandri van Rensburg, a 25-year-old platinum miner who was drinking beer outside Survivors Pub in the settlement on a sunny Friday afternoon. “Don’t believe what the mines are saying — people don’t want to go back to work.”
The bus, green with about 30 seats and a Lonmin sign on the side, was one of three empty shuttles that a reporter from Bloomberg News saw on May 16 heading toward Lonmin (LON)’s Wonderkop mine, close to where 34 wage protesters were killed by police in 2012. Mediation talks between the companies and worker representatives in Johannesburg, set down for three days, have been extended into the weekend.
Van Rensburg’s defiance reflects anger and masks fear in the Rustenburg area of the North West province, where as many as 1.6 million people have been affected by the strike at operations owned by Lonmin, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS) and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) Five people have been murdered this month, including four miners, while thousands of starving families rely on food aid.
The workers, who don’t get paid when on strike, have lost a third of their annual wages, meaning it would take at least three years to make back the money lost, even if they get the 12,500 rand ($1,200) they’re demanding. Producers have lost 19 billion rand in revenue, making this South Africa’s longest and costliest mine stoppage.
Retribution Fear
A 38-year-old Impala employee, walking along a paved road scarred by tire burning, said he is sad the strike has gone on for so long because it’s brought financial hardship and provoked killings. He asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
“The level of intimidation is high so people wanting to come back to work sometimes walk to the shafts or use modes of transport other than the buses,” Lerato Molebatsi, a spokeswoman for Lonmin, said by phone yesterday.
More than 70,000 miners walked off the job on Jan. 23 in South Africa, which has the world’s biggest reserves of platinum, used to make jewelry and by automakers in pollution-control devices. They’re members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which rose to become the largest labor group in platinum after the shootings in 2012.
Long Battle
It wants wages to be more than doubled to 12,500 rand a month within four years, including a 30 percent increase in the first year. The companies say that is unaffordable and are offering 10 percent. Inflation (SACPIYOY) was 6.1 percent in April.
Joseph Mathunjwa, the AMCU’s president, has continually said that the union’s wage demands reflect the will of his members and that his organization is peaceful. He declined to comment when called yesterday.
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