Johannesburg - The mass dismissal of striking workers at
Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS] mines in Rustenburg was not helping to resolve the
strike, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday.
"In as much as Cosatu is aware that the strike is
unprotected, Cosatu still believes that there is room for further negotiations
to resolve the strike," said North West provincial secretary Solly Phetoe.
"Interdicts and dismissals are not the way to go. We
want to urge the mine bosses to withdraw those dismissals and engage further,
to find a way of resolving the strikes with minimum loss of jobs that our
economy needs."
Phetoe pleaded for calm during the strike and urged workers
not to use violence.
"We want to be on record that the current situation was
created by the mine bosses themselves, so they should help us to resolve the
crisis we are in and stop dismissing workers by sms or in public."
He said the mines had until October 27 to reinstate all the
workers who were dismissed informally.
"If they fail to do that the federation will be
outlining its program of action to deal with the mining industry as
whole."
The strike at Amplats continued on Tuesday.
"We are still on strike, we are not giving in,"
said Gaddafhi Mdoda, member of the Rustenburg Strike Co-ordinating Committee.
"We have a meeting today (Tuesday) thereafter we are
going to apply for a permit to hold a memorial service at Bleskop
Stadium."
He said if they failed to secure Bleskop stadium, they
intended to hold the memorial service at the hill near Nkaneng, where a man was
shot dead, allegedly by the police.
"We are going to hold a memorial service on Wednesday,
whether we have a permit or not," he said.
Mdoda said the worker was shot dead on October 4, after
strikers had gathered on the hill and police used stun grenades, rubber bullets
and teargas to disperse them.
Amplats workers went on a wildcat strike on September 12,
demanding a monthly salary of R16 000.
The mine fired 12 000 workers earlier this month after they failed to attend disciplinary hearings.