Lonmin tables offer, awaits unions’ answer

PLATINUM producer Lonmin had tabled an offer to striking workers, it said last night. Spokeswoman Sue Vey said the unions had not given an answer and would consult with their members first.

She was unable to reveal the offer. “It will be communicated to employees at the hill where they have been waiting for feedback . . .”

She said the unions were expected to give a reponse at midday today.

Workers at the Lonmin mine have been striking for four weeks, demanding R12 500 a month.

Last month, the protest turned violent and police shot dead 34 protesters and injured 78.

Paying the miners R12 500 would raise their salaries by 137%, bosses said. They made a presentation about the company’s state of affairs to a delegation of trade unions, mine workers and the CCMA in the North West near Rustenburg late yesterday.

Marikana has 3 000 rock drill operators on strike. A large group of armed miners gathered near the hill where their 34 colleagues were shot dead on August 16. However, they dispersed shortly after 6pm when they heard the negotiations would continue.

Workers claim trade unions have failed to address their low wages and unbearable working conditions, saying the time had come to wage their own battle.

On Wednesday, mine management notified the workers via SMS of the suspension of mine operations with pay until Sunday.

Meanwhile, the man found dead near a group of strikers not far from the Marikana mine earlier this week has been identified as a union shop steward from the Eastern Cape.

Dumisani Mthinti, 51, a rock drill operator and National Union of Mineworkers shop steward, was found with two open wounds at the back of his head that showed he had been hacked with a sharp object, police said.

His body was found on Tuesday, as the strike at the platinum mine entered its second month. Investigations are still under way into the circumstances of his death.