SABC News reported on Sunday that over 100 mineworkers at China Precious Metal Company (CAPM) in Orkney near Klerksdorp in the North West remained underground in a sit-in, demanding a 15 % wage increase.  

Officials of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the mine’s management were locked in negotiations underground to find a solution to the wage deadlock and to bring the miners back to surface.  Management said it was offering workers an 8% increase, but that it could not afford a higher increase.  The NUM’s Livhuwani Mamburu indicated that that they have been engaging with the mine since September 2018 about the wage increase and other related matters.  He commented:  “There was a memorandum that was reached where the company says that they can offer 8% wage increase and also address the issue of job grading.  The workers are also saying that they want a living out allowance.  So the president of the NUM took that memorandum to the workers underground to get a mandate.  So the workers have turned down the offer of 8%; they want the issue of job grading to be linked to positions that if you are a team leader that 8% must be linked to your position.”

• Read the original of the report on the above at SABC News

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