Malema intends to spread mine unrest
JULIUS Malema finally admitted yesterday to the true intentions of his sudden interest in the affairs of South Africa’s mines.
The expelled ANC Youth League president revealed he planned to spread the groundswell of anger and unrest that brought Lonmin’s Marikana mine to a standstill about four weeks ago to South Africa’s other mines.
He sent the ominous warning to mining houses before an attentive audience of about 2 000 striking miners at Gold Fields’ Driefontein mine near Carletonville.
He further revealed that his home province of Limpopo would be his next destination in a rapidly growing campaign to destabilise the mining industry.
The trip to Limpopo would culminate in a call for a national mining strike that would render the industry ungovernable, he said.
Malema said his strike call was aimed at ridding the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) of its leaders – general secretary Frans Baleni and president Senzeni Zokwana.
“There must be a national strike in all the mines calling for the NUM leadership to step down. As long as Zokwana and Baleni are still leading NUM, there will never be progress,” he said.
Malema is expected to address members of the SA National Defence Force in Lenasia, who had claimed the government was not addressing their demands.
Back in Marikana, the gruesome discovery of a body in an open space near where striking Lonmin miners have been gathering since Monday did not deter thousands of miners from congregating to hear their leaders speak – completely ignoring the body lying several metres away.
The unidentified man found in Nkaneng informal settlement by a television crew was lying face-down with two deep cuts at the back of the neck. “I saw the body but we did not turn it over to see who it was. Our leaders have warned us to stay away from the body,” a striking miner who did not want to be named said.
The body was found in the afternoon as the miners returned from their march to the Andrew Saffy Memorial Hospital where they were met by a strong police contingent.
Armed miners prevented the media from getting closer to the body and police kept their distance.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) had a meeting with worker representatives in an attempt to get them to the negotiating table.
The CCMA’s Nerine Kahn would not disclose what happened in the meeting but worker representative Molefe Phele told the miners they had made it clear to the commission they were not going back to work until they received the R12 500 salary they have been demanding.
Lonmin management has warned that the continued efforts of a minority to keep the North West platinum mine closed through threats of violence posed a real and significant threat to jobs.
The Lonmin platinum miners have been on strike for more than a month now, crippling production in the company’s nine shafts in Marikana, Karee and Wonderkop.
Lonmin spokesman Nick Roodman said worker turnout dwindled from 6.34% on Monday to just 3% on average in all shafts.