• Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Press Release
  • Sitemap
Africa News Wire
  • General
  • Business Affairs
  • Lifestyle
  • Health Care
  • Sports
  • Legal
  • Study
  • National
  • Press Releases
  • Home
  • General
  • President Zuma appeals for peace in Marikana

President Zuma appeals for peace in Marikana

WebDesk
September 17, 2012September 19, 2012 No Comments

Pretoria: President Jacob Zuma has once again appealed for peace to return to the Marikana mining area in the North West following weeks of violent protests there that had claimed more than 44 lives. Addressing the COSATU national congress in Johannesburg on Monday, Zuma said worker rights were enshrined in the Constitution, and added that there was legislation giving effect to the constitutional provisions. But he urged the workers to respect the country’s laws.

He reminded the gathering of South Africa’s biggest trade union federation that employers and employees had the mechanisms to manage relations in the workplace. There was no need to resort to violence.

Zuma said the Judicial Commission of Inquiry would establish the facts around what happened in Marikana when 34 protesting miners were killed in clashes with police on September 16, a week after 10 people died, including two police officers.

“But there are a few immediate lessons. Firstly, we have to find a way to restore workplace stability and labour peace. Violence cannot become a culture of our labour relations,” Zuma said. He said workers and employers needed to use the laws of the country which spelt out clearly how to handle disputes between themselves.

“Given the levels of violence and intimidation in Marikana, government deployed law enforcement agencies to stabilise the situation. This does not take away the rights of miners and residents to protest, peacefully and unarmed, as provided for in the laws of the land,” said Zuma.

The agencies had been told to be firm, but to respect the rights of residents and strikers. This applied not only to labour disputes but also in service delivery protests which are at times also accompanied by violence, including the destruction of property.

Workers at Lonmin platinum mine are demanding a basic salary of R12 500 a month with employers last week offering a R900 increase to the current R4 600 entry level salary. In his speech, Zuma urged the workers and their employers to find solutions to the dispute without further delay, given its on-going impact on the economy.

He said indications were that the total rand value of production lost in the gold and platinum group of mines due to work stoppages over the past nine months was close to R4.5 billion. Losses in the coal sector, adds another 118 million rand to the total.
The National Treasury estimates that through its indirect impact on the economy, the strike actions in addition to other stoppages have subtracted close to R3.1 billion already from the national fiscus. The impact went beyond the mining sector. The manufacturing sector, especially the Fabricated Metal Products sector was already showing signs of strain.

“We cannot afford to go into a recession, and revert to the 2008 and 2009 period where the country lost close to a million jobs, which we are still battling to recover. We wish the employers and workers well as they seek a solution to this wage impasse.”

Government would continue to provide support to the negotiations, through the Ministry of Labour. According to the Mining Charter, mining companies were required to improve the housing and living conditions of workers and also to invest in skills development, employment equity, ownership as well as local community development.

They have to meet certain targets for the conversion and upgrading of single sex hostels formerly used by migrant labourers into family units or single occupancy accommodation by 2014. Companies are also expected to facilitate home ownership by 2014.

“Our monitoring indicates that 50% have complied with the provisions relating to improving living conditions. We applaud those companies that are complying with this provision, to humanise the living conditions of workers,” said Zuma

Post navigation

South Africa (SA)-European Union (EU) Business forum to be inaugurated in Brussels
Create inclusive societies to attain growth: Manuel

Related Articles

Southern Africa – Tropical Storm Eloise Flash Update No.1, As of 18 January 2021

- General
January 18, 2021

Desert Locust situation update – 18 January 2021

- General
January 18, 2021

Malawi Household Food Security Bulletin | Mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) on the Effects of COVID-19 in Malawi – Round 7

- General
January 18, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

News Search

Page Links

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Press Release
  • Sitemap

Advertisement

MonthlyArchives

Advertisement

News Archives

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    
© Copyright 2021 - Africa News Wire. All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Press Release
  • Sitemap