We are fighting for our livelihoods, say cash-strapped Sibanye mineworkers as they reject new offers

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Sibanye StillwaterBusinessLive reports on the views of some of the 25,000-strong employees who have been on a wage strike at Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold operations since 9 March.

They are demanding a R1,000-per-month increase for three years for the lowest-earning employees, a R100 increase in living-out allowance and a 6% pay hike for so-called ‘miners, artisans and officials’. “If SA has to come to a standstill before we get our R1,000 increase, then so be it. We are fighting for our livelihoods here, and for the future of our children,” said Sindi Godongwana, who works at Sibanye’s Driefontein gold mine in Carletonville. Sibanye’s offer, which the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have rejected, would translate into an increase of 7.8% in basic wages in the first year of a three-year deal, 7.2% in the second year and 6.8% in the third year. The parties met in Boksburg on Tuesday last week to try to resolve the deadlock. Sibanye presented a number of proposals and options to end the strike, including a profit share scheme and a five-year wage deal arrangement encompassing an increase of R850 in year four and R900 in year six, or a mix between the two. According to Amcu’s Jimmy Gama, the union negotiators rejected the profit share proposal as it was dependent on market conditions. At a mass meeting at the Driefontein mine on Friday, Amcu and NUM leaders gave feedback to their members and sought a mandate on the way forward. When the leaders asked the striking employees what the next step should be, they shouted in unison that the industrial action, which has resulted in them forfeiting more than R1bn in wages, should continue. Lusindiso Bongelo, a rock drill operator, said: “We have reached a point of no return now. We will strike until the employer accedes to our demands.”


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