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Johannesburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) has
sent a team to discuss the demand by striking Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] workers
that their union branch leaders be removed, the union said on Tuesday.
"There have never been any complaints about the branch
there. We are surprised as well," Num spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said on
Tuesday.
The demand was made in a memorandum handed over when around
15 000 workers suddenly went on strike at the company's KDC west mine, on the
West Rand.
On Monday night and Tuesday morning, the Num sent leaders to
speak to the workers, find out what their issues were, and take appropriate
action.
Seshoka said the branch leaders were elected by the workers
themselves and they could replace them if they wanted to.
"Workers generally have got the right to do so, because
that is the leadership elected by them," said Seshoka.
Expelled ANC Youth League president
Julius Malema was expected to address workers at the gold mine on Tuesday.
Malema, who has been lobbying the ANCYL policy of
nationalisation of mines, has been visiting mines and addressing disgruntled
mineworkers in the past two weeks.
Seshoka said he did not think the events on mines over the
past few weeks were a sign that workers were losing faith in the Num.
"Not really. Our feeling is that we are seeing a
situation in which one strike action prompts another. It's a mixture of a whole
of issues.
"We have got politics. We have got a whole lot of
issues involved."
Production has been halted at Lonmin's platinum mine near
Rustenburg for a month.
An unprotected strike began on August 10. Ten people,
including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the ensuing
violence.
On August 16, 34 people were killed when the police opened
fire on striking workers near the mine.
Their rallying cry has been for a pay increase to R12 500 a
month.
At Gold Fields on Monday, one of the demands of striking workers there was that their wages also be increased to R12 500.
