R13.77/l for petrol from Wednesday
THERETAIL price of petrol in South Africa would increase by 3 percent from July 1, while wholesale diesel would edge up 0.3 percent, the energy department said on Friday. The department said petrol would cost R13.77 in Gauteng, while diesel would be R11.71. The price of fuel is adjusted every month, factoring in global oil prices and the rand exchange rate. – Reuters “They (mineworkers) have given us a mandate to go back and challenge the report. They want the commission to be reviewed, not by the government, but by an international forum.
“They don’t want a review for the sake of a review, but to unearth the truth,” Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said yesterday.
He said mineworkers had said that they intended to sue the state and Lonmin executives for the massacre.
The commission found Amcu had not exercised effective control over its members and supporters to ensure that they acted in a lawful manner. It also found that the union’s officials made inflammatory comments that aggravated the volatile situation.
“Amcu was not the majority union at the time, but the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) was the majority. The Amcu leadership was called to help at the koppie when management could not. The koppie was a safe place where workers fled the violence,” said Mathunjwa.
The commission investigated the Marikana massacre in which 34 mineworkers were killed at a koppie at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, and also looked at the 10 murders of miners, police and security guards in the build up to the now infamous slayings.
Retired Judge Ian Farlam chaired the commission,
Control
Regarding NUM, the commission found the union had not exercised effective control over its members during the strike. It also encouraged non-striking members to report to work despite the danger they faced.
“NUM will thoroughly consider these findings and will take immediate cognisance of them in the conduct of future affairs,” David Spunzi, the newly elected NUM general secretary said on Friday.
The commission found Lonmin did not use its best efforts to resolve the disputes that arose between itself and its workers who participated in the unprotected strike on the one hand and between the strikers and those workers who did not participate in the strike.
Lonmin chief executive Ben Magara said on Friday that the company focused on living conditions and employee indebtedness, two burning issues that it believed would make a profound impact on the wellbeing of its employees.