New NUM boss sees uphill battle ahead
THE NEWLY elected head of South Africa’s biggest mine union yesterday said that his members were still being paid “apartheid” wages, signaling a hard line ahead of gold sector wage talks due to start today.
David Sipunzi, formerly a regional leader from the Free State, was elected general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) earlier this month, replacing veteran Frans Baleni.
The leadership shake-up has come just ahead of what are expected to be tough negotiations in South Africa’s ailing gold sector, which is grappling with depressed prices, falling production and rising costs.
Speaking ahead of a rally in Westonaria, Sipunzi defended NUM’s demand for wage hikes of around 80 percent for its lowest-paid members, who make between R5 000 and R6 000.
“We expect them to meet our demands. Eighty percent of just over R5 000 is not too much. The chief executives are raking in millions. But the indications are that they are going to plead poverty,” he said. “Nothing has changed. We are still being paid under the apartheid wage structure,” he said, referring to the fact that lower-paid miners were overwhelmingly black and often drawn from rural areas far from the shafts – a system that has prevailed for decades.
Sipunzi poured cold water on an industry initiative that has seen it propose “an economic and social” pact as part of the wage talks. Labour’s response has been frosty.
“We don’t believe it will play a role in this year’s negotiations,” he said. Sipunzi also said he intended for the NUM to remain a political ally of the ruling ANC so it could inject itself into decision making – but the union expected the party to pursue labour-friendly policies.
“Our relationship with the ANC is as strong as ever. But if we support the ANC they should support us,” he said.
One reason for the leadership change at the NUM has been the tens of thousands of members it has lost to arch rival the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) in an often violent turf war. Sipunzi said he aimed to bring Amcu members back into his union’s embrace, including its charismatic leader Joseph Mathunjwa, who left the NUM over a decade ago.
“Mathunjwa himself, he must come back home,” Sipunzi said, adding that NUM and Amcu should bury their hatchets and confront the boardroom together. “We are not enemies, we are both workers. The enemy is the employer.”
Today’s wage talks involve AngloGold Ashanti, Sibanye Gold and Harmony Gold. – Reuters