Business Report writes that Impala Platinum (Implats) on Wednesday confirmed that the illegal work stoppage at the North Shaft of its Bafokeng platinum operation in North West had been resolved.

"Following constructive engagement between the management team and employee representatives, the issues were resolved. As a result, normal attendance levels were recorded at North Shaft from the morning shift today (Wednesday),” Implats advised. The Bafokeng operation, in which Implats raised its stake to majority control last year, saw contract employees embark on a week-long work stoppage from on 27 June, demanding permanent positions with the company. The illegal strike caused attendance levels to drop to 60%-70%. Implats obtained an interdict, which declared the strike unprotected. Market analyst Alex Fray said Implats was running into frequent industrial action since its acquisition of the platinum mine. “This is the second incident of illegal industrial unrest at Impala Bafokeng since its acquisition by Implats,” Fray pointed out. Earlier this year, Implats said it could be forced to undertake a restructuring of Impala Bafokeng. The company indicated that the demands by Bafokeng workers were taking place amid a difficult operating environment for platinum group metal (PGM) producers given the depressed PGM prices. It added that the longer-term impact of this illegal strike posed a risk to sustainable employment, particularly given Impala Bafokeng’s “recent underperformance”.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tawanda Karombo at Business Report
• Read too, Implats fends off another illegal strike at Bafokeng mine, at BusinessLive

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