Business Times reports that the fallout over the prolonged wage strike at Sibanye-Stillwater is intensifying, with the producer threatening legal action should Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Minister Gwede Mantashe see through a threat to cancel the gold miner’s mining licence if there is no resolution soon.

Sibanye hit back on Friday after Mantashe hinted in parliament on Thursday that he could cancel the company’s mining rights over the persisting strike. Spokesperson James Wellsted said on Friday that the company reserved the right to protect the interests of its stakeholders through appropriate legal channels. “The minister’s remark is somewhat perplexing given that it was the unions who initially called the strike which has halted production at our SA gold operations and have dragged out this extended industrial action,” Wellsted pointed out. He indicated that Sibanye would engage the DMRE if the prospect of cancellation of mining rights was formally raised with the company. Wellsted claimed that labour’s wage demands would affect the sustainability and life of the company’s SA gold operations, resulting in early job losses for many of its 31,000 employees, and would have significant consequences for other stakeholders, including communities and local SMEs that depended on Sibanye’s operations. The move would also affect the national and regional economies. “The reason we are holding out is that the industry cannot continue to absorb above-inflation costs. Is the minister suggesting that unless we accept the union’s demands [he] may take away our mining right? I’m not sure that is the intention of section 47 — or even lawful — and the implications for inward investment for South Africa are appalling,” Wellsted commented. The Act requires the holder of a mining right to actively conduct mining

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Dineo Faku at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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