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Johannesburg - Expelled ANCYL leader Julius Malema wants to
see the country's miners strike five days every month, he said on Tuesday.
"(There) are strikes happening in different mines.
"They
need to be coordinated and a national programme should be rolled out wherein
every month for a week, (five) working days, there will be strikes demanding
better salaries for the workers, demanding that the mineral resources of this
country be nationalised," Malema said in an interview with CNN journalist
Christiane Amanpour.
This would happen until the owners of the means of
production were ready to sit down with "economic freedom fighters"
and discuss a way forward.
Earlier on Tuesday, speaking to miners at Gold Fields'
Driefontein mine outside Carletonville, Malema called on all workers there to
strike.
"There must be a national strike at all the mines until
(National Union of Mineworkers' secretary general) Frans Baleni and the union's
leadership step down with immediate effect."
Gold Fields chairperson Dr Mamphela Ramphele told Amanpour
the crisis in the mining industry would end when the government rose to its
responsibility of being a good regulator, instead of being both a player and a
regulator.
She said the government had too many "indirect shares" in
the industry.
She criticised trade unions for not playing their part and
allowing certain individuals to step in and take advantage of the situation.
Ramphele called on the private sector to lead and adopt a
more "sustainable mode".
Lastly, she called on the country's citizens to hold the
government to account.
"Citizens in South Africa must hold the government accountable for re-militarising the police. We can't have police shooting people because they are striking."
