NO PANGAS FOR MARIKANA STRIKERS
Ban on striking mineworkers
AS THE country braces itself for a strike in the platinum belt tomorrow, shopkeepers in Marikana, North West, intend not to sell weapons deemed dangerous.
Thousands of mineworkers affiliated to the Association for Mining and Construction Union (Amcu) are expected to go on strike today.
This has sparked fears of outbreaks of violence following the deaths of 44 people during a wildcat strike in August 2012.
However, owners of hardware stores in the Rustenburg area have vowed that they will refrain from selling axes, machetes, steel rods and any other form of weapons that could be used to spill blood.
This is in contrast to 2012 when shelves in the stores were emptied by labourers involved in a strike that resulted in 44 deaths.
There were no miners gathered yesterday at the infamous koppie where 34 people were shot and killed by police on August 16 2012.
However, security guards have since five days ago put up barbed wire at the entrance to the Lonmin mine and appeared to be randomly searching cars.
Machetes sell for between R45 and R75.
Axes sell for up to R150, depending on the size.
The business owners Sowetan interviewed in the single road of the town and neighbouring informal settlements said they would be unwilling to sell the dangerous weapons primarily because that would attract the attention of law enforcement agencies.
The business owners wanted to remain anonymous for fear of endangering their lives or losing business.
Four of the seven shop owners also expressed concerns that selling the weapons could lead to an unnecessary loss of life.
“You would find that there are instances in which your nemesis would use this period to accuse you of being a sellout and get you killed,” said an owner of a hardware store in Nkaneng.
“I would not want to have a weapon sold in my shop used for killing people.”
The entrepreneur said he would remove all the machetes, axes and any other instruments that could be viewed as dangerous.
Workers Sowetan approached randomly declined to comment on the strike or speak about the weapons.
Another entrepreneur said machetes and axes were not flying off the shelves.
“It is business as usual and I have not noticed a trend similar to that in 2012, when my shop and that of my competitors ran out of the weapons, ” he said.
The shop owner said he was also not going to sell the weapons until the strike was over.
He described the use of machetes as weapons as a “barbaric and inhumane thing”.
Another shop owner was reluctant to be interviewed as the mineworkers made up a large chunk of his customers.
After making a U-turn, he said the strike was bad because it would result in mineworkers not being paid and not being able to buy from the stores.
“The sooner the strike ends, the better it would be for everyone because our businesses are going to suffer. ”
Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey said: “If they do go on strike the safety and security of our people is our highest priority to ensure.”
DISSIDENTS in the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union are forming a rival to the militant labour group, accusing its leadership of recklessly pursuing a damaging strike in the country’s platinum sector which many miners do not want and cannot afford.
The stakes are high as Amcu plans to strike tomorrow over wages at the world ’ s top three producers in a showdown between companies battling to maintain margins and workers struggling to feed their families.
South Africa’s ailing economy cannot afford more mine labour unrest, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has said this week, as investor confidence in the country’s mining sector hits rock bottom and the rand is trading near five-year lows.
Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin, which account for over half of world output, can ill afford stoppages after being battered by wildcat strikes in 2012 rooted in a turf war between Amcu and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), in which dozens of people were killed.
Amcu’s charismatic president Joseph Mathunjwa is under pressure to deliver on promises of a “living wage ” of R12 500 a month on the platinum belt.
But some accuse him of losing touch with rank and file concerns and setting the stage for a protracted strike that will hurt workers.
“Many people don’t want to strike, ” said Thebe Maswabi, a former Amcu shop steward at Amplats who is part of the group that says it plans to form a new union.
“There is nothing to show that Mathunjwa will bring us money. ”
Other union sources also say there was a concerted attempt to form a rival to Amcu, which is now the dominant union in the platinum shafts after poaching tens of thou- sands of NUM members.
“We were approached two weeks ago and asked if we wanted to help register a new trade union and breakaway group,” said Gideon du Plessis, general secretary of the trade union Solidarity, which represents mostly skilled workers.
“But we said we don’t want to do that and further damage our fragile relationship with Amcu.”
Miners may struggle to hold out if the strike drags on.
The typical South African mineworker has eight dependants, many of whom are peasants in rural areas far from the shafts.
This stokes their demands but also means they cannot survive for long without an income.
“We are tired of strikes,” said Gaddafi Mdoda, one of the leaders of the 2012 strikes who is now part of the movement to create a new union.
“If you visit each and every room of the mineworkers, the fridges are empty. It’s January. Now if they are going to go on strike in February how are they going to start up the year with empty pockets?”
Amcu’s leaders deny there are cracks and on Sunday, when the strike vote was taken for Amplats, it put on a show of force with a rally attended by about 15 000 members who greeted Mathunjwa like a rock star.
“We don’t have any disgruntled members in Amcu structures,” Mathunjwa said yesterday on SABC.
The most recent data shows no sign of Amcu’s growth cooling off.
In mid-December, figures supplied by Amplats showed the union had increased its membership at the company to 60% from 40% five months before. No figures have been released for January.
Amcu’s critics accuse it of using violence and intimidation in pursuit of its agenda and when large numbers of its members gather in their trade-mark green shirts, it is hard to gauge if the support shown is genuine or enforced.
There is potential for violence as the remaining NUM members in platinum, who have already signed wage agreements, are not going on strike and are being urged to go to work. –