The Star reports that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has criticised a proposed wage increase at Sibanye-Stillwater in the gold wage talks, describing it as even less than the government’s grant to the unemployed affected by Covid-19.

Apparently, mining unions are this year negotiating with individual gold mining producers because of the impact of Covid-19 on companies. Amcu president Joseph Mathunjwa said the union would approach this year’s wage negotiations in the spirit of honouring the fallen Marikana miners who were killed by police in a labour dispute in 2012. “The R250 proposed by Sibanye in the gold sector negotiations, which is less than the R350 grant given by the government, is rejected in honour of our fallen comrades,” Mathunjwa stated. He went on to say that he was concerned by the greed in the mining industry and the lack of care for workers who toiled hard to extract minerals from under the ground. “South Africa, I beseech you today, you are a rich country. Capitalism is characterised by the mass accumulation by the elite and politically connected. Mining communities remain poor, yet they have precious commodities around them,” Mathunjwa said.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Itumeleng Mafisa at The Star

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