Jacob Zuma: Mining executives should take pay freeze

BBC News, 17 October 2012

Related Stories 

• Harding: Mine owners flex muscles
• Malema, Marikana and Mugabe
• Do SA unions have a future?

South African mining has been hit
by a wave of wildcat strikes

South African President Jacob Zuma has asked executives at mining firms to take a year-long salary freeze and called on workers to return to their jobs after a series of violent strikes.

Mr Zuma called on production in the mining industry to be "normalised".

South African mining has been hit by a wave of wildcat strikes in which miners and officials have been killed.

The world's biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum, last week fired 12,000 striking workers.

And 15,000 miners at Gold Fields, the world's fourth-largest gold miner, face the sack if they do not return to work by 14:00 local time on Thursday.

Mr Zuma called on senior company executives to freeze salaries and bonuses for the next year as a "strong commitment to build an equitable economy".

The comments are the first significant intervention by Mr Zuma since the unrest began. The governing ANC party is holding a leadership contest in December, and some members are already calling for Mr Zuma to be replaced by his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe.

Amid outcry over the dire living conditions of shanty towns, Mr Zuma also announced a plan to develop major mining areas. "We have developed measures dealing with... the living conditions of mining communities," he said.

Thousands of people live in slums around mines with no electricity, running water or sanitation.

The striking miners received global attention when police killed 34 striking workers at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana in August.

Many of the mining firms are UK listed. In all, analysts say that about 75,000 miners are currently on strike in the gold and platinum sectors, most of them illegally.