Catharsis Ours: Lonmin memorial service for the slain miners.....Protests spills over from Lonmin mine to two other platinum mines

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/08/201282383228306939.html

S Africa commemorates mine-violence victims

Mood tense as services are held for 44 people killed during strike at platinum mine in North West province.

Last Modified: 23 Aug 2012 12:05

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Hundreds of people attended memorial services for 44 people killed in strikes at Lonmin PLC's Marikana mine [AFP]

Services are taking place across South Africa for the 44 victims of violence since miners at one of the country's largest platinum mines began a strike on August 10 demanding a pay rise.
Thirty-four miners were killed on August 16 by police who opened fire on them at a Lonmin-operated platinum mine in Marikana in the country's North West province. Police said they opened fire in self-defence.Ten other people, including two policemen, were also killed in earlier strike violence.
Reporting from the site of the shooting in Marikana on Thursday, Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa said the mood was tense.
She said the miners and the mining community told the African National Congress (ANC)-led government, which had planned to hold an official memorial service on Thursday at the site of the shootings, that they would not be dictated to and that they would hold their own service.
Political battle
Our correspondent said the incident was giving rise to a political battle, with public criticism growing against the government's handling of the police shooting.
Julius Malema, expelled leader of the ANC Youth League, and his former party held their own memorial service near the venue for the planned government memorial service. It was well attended by mourners and by families of the deceased.
President Jacob Zuma did not attend this service.
Malema, who did attend and was expected to speak, had in the previous days publicly criticised the government and President Jacob Zuma.
He also led miners to a police station on Tuesday to open a murder case against the policemen who opened fire on the striking miners.

The violence began when mine workers demanding a 300 per cent pay rise began the strike, which degenerated into clashes as police clashed with armed miners.
Unrest spreads
Meanwhile, a turf war between the ANC-allied National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the rival Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) - which spilled over to other mines along the platinum belt on Wednesday - is raising fears that anger over low wages and poor living conditions could generate fresh violence.
Analysts have also raised concerns that the unrest could spread to gold producers.
Impala Platinum, the world number two platinum producer, also gave warning on Thursday that the industrial action could become more widespread.

"The platinum industry is experiencing increased levels of industrial action ... These developments pose a significant risk to the industry," Terence Goodlace, Impala's chief executive, said.
Goodlace said the trade union rivalry was still "fairly volatile".
Labour disputes in South Africa's platinum belt have turned increasingly violent this year.
In February, three people died at the Impala's mine during a wildcat strike.
Investment woes
The strike at Lonmin's Marikana mine has driven up platinum prices and stoked worries about investing in Africa's biggest economy, where chronic unemployment and income disparities threaten social stability.
Platinum prices were at it highest in three and a half months and signs that of the turf war between unions will spread looked set to increase it further as investors refocus on supply risks rather than demand.
Platinum mining companies are struggling to reconcile opposing pressures to improve employment terms while dealing with a sharp drop in demand, which forced prices below the cost of production.
Swiss bank UBS said the situation in South Africa could take weeks to resolve.
It estimated a loss of platinum production from the unrest of up to around 70,000 ounces, and flagged potential for trouble to spread to bigger producers.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/08/2012822135041901731.html

Protests spill over to other S African mines

Labour unrest spreads to two more mines in demand for higher wages and better living conditions.

Last Modified: 22 Aug 2012 18:34

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Labour unrest has spread to at least two more platinum mines after police killed 34 strikers and wounded another 78 at the Lonmin platinum mine last week.
Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa was in Rasimone miners from the Royal Bafokeng mine have joined thousands who are protesting at the Lonmin mine.

The striking miners say they want a pay increase and their living conditions improved.
"Right now this group seems fairly peaceful," Mutasa reported.
"They say they will continue to strike until mine managers give them their pay increase but mine managers say this is impossible because the industry is struggling and they can't afford the 300 per cent salary increase the strikers are demanding."
Police have been posted nearby in case the protests become violent, but their main concern is that other mine workers across the country will strike as they have threatened. This could have a detrimental effect on the country's economy.
Thandi Modise, premier of North West Province where the platinum mines are located, warned on Tuesday that the protests may spread further if authorities don't deal with the massive and growing inequality gap that has many South Africans feeling they have not benefited in the 18 years since black majority rule replaced a racist white minority government.
South Africa has become the richest nation in Africa but still has more than 25 per cent unemployment - nearly 50 per cent among young people. Protests against shortages of housing, electricity and running water and poor education and health services are an almost daily affair.
That poverty is contrasted by the ostentatious lifestyles of a small elite of blacks, who have become multimillionaires, often through corruption related to government tenders.
'Ominous development'
There are growing political implications of demands for higher wages spreading to other mines, raising fears the instability could inflame protests at more of the South African mines that provide 75 per cent of the world's platinum.

South African miners' village fury at deaths [Al Jazeera]

South Africa's miningweb.com Web site calls it "a possibly ominous development'' that could have a "devastating effect on the South African economy as a whole with metals and minerals sales providing such a large part of the country's export income".
South African President Jacob Zuma traveled to the troubled Lonmin mine on Wednesday after striking miners there heckled a committee of government ministers sent to help the grieving community with identification of bodies of slain miners, burial arrangements and bereavement counseling.

Platinum mines, already hit by low world prices and flagging demand, especially from vehicle makers who use the metal to control carbon emissions, may not be in a financial position to seriously consider the demands, some industry analysts say.
The shutdown at London-registered Lonmin PLC mine at Marikana where the shootings occurred has cost hundreds of millions of dollars in share value.
The company said on Tuesday it may have to renegotiate with bankers debt payments that are due on September 30. Lonmin also said it will be unable to meet its annual target production of 750,000 ounces.

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