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Amplats to reinstate 12 000 strikers

Johannesburg - Amplats has agreed to rehire 12 000 illegal strikers who were dismissed, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said Friday.

"We've reached an agreement with the employers to reinstate all the dismissed employees," said NUM regional coordinator Mxhasi Sithethi. Workers should report for work on Tuesday, he added.

The deal, which could end a widespread work stoppage in the sector, came around a week after President Jacob Zuma made a plea to the tens of thousands of striking mine workers to return to their shafts.

NUM said it has been engaged in talks with Anglo American Platinum, alongside other recognised unions at the mine.

The striking workers will each be awarded a R2 000 one-off allowance and a R2 500 salary advance, to see them through as they have been out of work for six weeks.

Amplats dismissed the strikers en masse on October 5.

The company was not available for comment.

Workers' demands for pay hikes were not discussed in the latest round of talks however.

"The priority is to get all dismissed employees back at work, so the issue of whatever demands they have could be entertained later," said Sithethi.

Workers have been pushing for pay raises of at least the 11-22%, the same level awarded to those at Lonmin's nearby Marikana mine following a strike that had left 46 dead, 35 of whom were killed by police.

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