Reuters reports that the president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) said on Thursday that his members were ready to strike for a year if necessary and would bring the platinum belt to a standstill if Impala Platinum (Implats) carried out plans to cut up to 13,400 jobs.  

Joseph Mathunjwa, who led a five-month strike in 2014, was speaking at a memorial marking the sixth anniversary of the "Marikana Massacre" when police shot dead 34 workers taking part in a strike at Lonmin's platinum mine.  "No-one scares us, five months was nothing," said a visibly angry Mathunjwa before thousands of his members, adding that nothing would move during the strike in the platinum belt.  He went on to say:  "I'm telling you, we will do it for 12 months and these mines will not be operational, they will be at a standstill, nothing will happening here in South Africa, the revolution is imminent."  South Africa's platinum belt is a flashpoint of labour and social unrest rooted in community grievances over jobs, revenue flows and conflict between rival unions.

• Read this report in full at Mining Weekly

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