South African Miner's strike

[C. Flower]

In an article in yesterday’s Mail & Guardian (SA), James Grant points out that the common purpose law is associated with the apartheid era ( not the colonial era) and was affirmed by the constitutional court as recently as 2003.

However, he states that “The facts, from the little one may glean, seem to me to indicate that the killing of the 34 was a state-sanctioned massacre.”

http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-31-marikana-common-purpose-not-outdated-or-defunct

Awful descriptions in the press of how some miners were cornered while hiding after the first shootings, between boulders, and shot in cold blood.

[Mick Tully]

It is good to see that Mandella is a shareholder in the mine that the police shot the union protesters, what a legacy to leave behind. But then again that is what puppets do.

[C. Flower]

Strike has spread to gold mines.

The arrested miners have been released.

[Spectabilis]

Not all the miners have been released. 'Over 200' of the 270 is the closest figure I could get.They are still 'confirming addresses' for some. This has a tinge of xenophobia to me as I suspect some of those still in prison may be immigrant workers form neighbouring countries who are having a hard time of it in SA at the moment.

http://mg.co.za/article/2012-09-03-x...ead-in-mayfair

[Andrew49]

Anglo American has announced that it has suspended platinum operations in Rustenburg, South Africa - ostensibly to

"protect the safety and security of its employees from outside intimidation"

but it's more than likely done to bring economic pressure on miners, their families and on the SA government.

Source

[C. Flower]

The Lonmin miners have turned down a pay offer.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking16.html

Irish Times reporting on this is unbelievable. Workers striking for a survival wage are "inciting unrest."

Workers camped on a rocky outcrop at the mine, where police shot dead 34 protesters last month, dismissed the offer as way below the 12,500 rand (€1,161) they have been demanding.

"We are not interested," striker representative Molifi Phele said as hundreds of stick-waving demonstrators chanted and danced around him in the heart of the "platinum belt", 100km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg. "What he is offering cannot buy you anything. All we want is 12,500."

The August 16th "Marikana Massacre" has poisoned industrial relations across the mining sector and turned the spotlight on the alliance between big unions and the ANC that has formed the basis of power since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

This year's rapid rise of the militant Association of Mining and Construction Workers (AMCU), based on a push for huge wage hikes, has presented an unprecedented threat to a status quo under which established unions ensure industrial stability with more modest wage increases for workers.

President Jacob Zuma, who faces an internal ANC leadership election in December, has vowed to crack down on anybody inciting further unrest, but his handling of the troubles has at times appeared flat-footed.

Take home pay and allowance for rock drillers (skilled, difficult and dangerous work) is quoted as between £150 and £300 a month.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/...7407&sn=Detail

[Jolly Red Giant]

The Democratic Socialist Movement (CWI sister party in South Africa of the Socialist Party) is now playing a major role in the coordination of strike action in the Rustenberg region, the establishment of workers committees and the building of a regional general strike.

The South African Times paper reported:

"In North West, mineworkers rejecting the formal unions have formed a Rustenburg Workers and Communities Forum under the leadership of the Democratic Socialist Movement, affiliate of the Committee for Workers’ International".

International media outlets including Le Monde, the BBC, and the Wall Street Journal have all made explicit references to the DSM in recent days.

http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5944

Needless to say the SACP is going absolutely ballistic over the spreading of strike action and the growing influence of the DSM

The invasion of the space by outside forces may mark the beginning of a serious programme of destabilisation. Agitating workers and giving them false promises is dangerous and may take long time to correct. The replacement of unions with committees formed around issues has a long-term implication for the industry and for the collective bargaining dispensation in the country.

[C. Flower]

Back to work according to RTE, with a 22% pay increase.

Not a full settlement of demands.

They struck for two months without pay.

Equivalent to about €720 a month.

Onwards and upwards.