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Johannesburg - The chief executive of Anglo Platinum (Amplats) [JSE:AMS] said on Wednesday that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union's (Amcu) striking members are trying to achieve its demands through violence and criminal acts.
Chris Griffith said: "There have been extensive reports of both overt and covert intimidation at the various operations, as well as injuries and damage to property."
He said his company was exploring the option of trying to have the four week strike declared illegal by the courts.
He was speaking during a media briefing with the chief executives of Lonmin [JSE:LON] and Impala Platinum (Implats) [JSE:IMP], whose operations have been hit by the same strike.
Griffith said "the pain may be felt" next week when the monthly pay day rolls around.
The stoppage itself by Amcu members has followed the letter of the law and is therefore considered a "protected" strike by law, which effectively means it is legal and striking employees cannot be fired for just downing tools.
Amcu is demanding a more than doubling of basic pay to R12 500 a month under the battle cry of a living wage.
Companies say they can ill afford this as they confront rising costs and depressed prices. They have offered increases of up to 9% against an inflation rate of 5.4%.
Last week Amplats file papers to sue Amcu for a provisional R591m in damages resulting from ongoing strike action.
The current platinum strike, which has affected over 40% of global production of the metal used in emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles, has cost companies about 175 000 ounces of lost output to date, according to South Africa's chamber of mines.
