Cabinet welcomes end to platinum strike

Cabinet says the five-month long industrial action has had a dire impact on workers & employers.

Mineworkers going back at work at Lonmin's Rowland shaft in Marikana on 25 June 2014. Picture: Govan Whittles/EWN.

Gaye Davis | 1970 days ago

CAPE TOWN - Cabinet has welcomed the end of the country's longest-ever strike.

It says the five-month long strike in the platinum sector has had a dire impact on workers, employers and economy as a whole.

Communications Minister Faith Muthambi says the government will do all it can to prevent any such prolonged strike in future.

The action halted mines that normally account for 40 percent of global platinum output and hit the country's overall GDP, pushing it into contraction in the first quarter of the year.

Thousands of miners flocked to the Royal Bafokeng stadium near Rustenburg on 23 June 2014 to accept a wage agreement from platinum producers which ended South Africa's costliest and longest strike. Picture: Reinart Toerien/EWN

It was also mentioned by ratings agency Standard & Poor's as one of the reasons South Africa's credit rating was downgraded.

Muthambi was briefing journalists at Parliament on the outcome of Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.

Watch: Mine strike a victory for the working class?

The communications minister says Cabinet did not specifically discuss the threatened strike by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) in the metals and engineering sector.

But she says Cabinet is appealing to employers and unions to resolve their differences speedily and to avoid any such lengthy strikes in the future.

"So on the issue of Numsa, this is definitely a call we are making as government and we are going to support all affected parties to make sure that strike doesn't take place."

Muthambi says Cabinet believes the success of government's development programmes depend on a stable and thriving economy.

More in Local

Comments

EWN welcomes all comments that are constructive, contribute to discussions in a meaningful manner and take stories forward.

However, we will NOT condone the following:

- Racism (including offensive comments based on ethnicity and nationality)
- Sexism
- Homophobia
- Religious intolerance
- Cyber bullying
- Hate speech
- Derogatory language
- Comments inciting violence.

We ask that your comments remain relevant to the articles they appear on and do not include general banter or conversation as this dilutes the effectiveness of the comments section.

We strive to make the EWN community a safe and welcoming space for all.

EWN reserves the right to: 1) remove any comments that do not follow the above guidelines; and, 2) ban users who repeatedly infringe the rules.

Should you find any comments upsetting or offensive you can also flag them and we will assess it against our guidelines.

EWN is constantly reviewing its comments policy in order to create an environment conducive to constructive conversations.

Cabinet welcomes end to platinum strike

Timeline

Sacca questions govt’s silence during SAA strike

EFF supporters join striking SAA staff in Kempton Park

General workers at ORTIA hoping SAA strike leads to permanent employment

Satawu: SAA being unreasonable and need to come to their senses

Comments

Choose an EWN Twitter account

Choose an EWN app