BL Premium notes that Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), adopted a proprietary tone when asked about his future in that position at last week’s media briefing on platinum industry talks.  

Mathunjwa has just come out of a bruising five-month strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold division and is heading into platinum industry wage talks with a demand for a 48% increase of basic salaries to R17,000 a month from the average R11,500 per month.  Under the threat of de-registration as a union by the department of labour, Amcu is holding its national congress in September, where, among other items, there will be a vote on the union’s leadership.  Asked if he was confident he would retain his presidency, Mathunjwa said:  “It’s for the delegates to decide.  The works I’ve being doing for Amcu will suggest if I’m the best president or not.  If I was doing badly, the workers will take me out and I’ll thank them for the opportunity to lead this organisation, which I formed by the way.”  A lot will ride on how the platinum talks unfold.  Mathunjwa is again rolling dice that are unlikely to deliver the win that he and Amcu members want as there is zero chance of the platinum producers acceding to a 48% increase in wages.  It’s also unlikely the platinum wage talks deliver a protracted strike as they did in 2014.

Read the comment on this subject in full at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page