Johannesburg - South Africa's gold and platinum mines have lost R4.5bn to forced stoppages this year, President
Jacob Zuma said Monday, warning that the country can ill afford a recession due to growing mining unrest.
"Our financial indicators indicate that the total rand value of production lost in the gold and platinum group of mines due to work stoppages over the past nine months is close to R4.5bn," Zuma told a Cosatu conference.
Addressing the four-day conference of the main umbrella union, Zuma urged striking mine workers and employers to find a solution to a spike in labour troubles that has flared into bloodshed and led to mine closures.
The government has struggled to rein in the growing unrest in the platinum belt in northwestern Rustenburg where a deadly wildcat stay-away at the Lonmin
[JSE:LON] Marikana plant forced temporary suspensions at several nearby operations.
The National Treasury had forecast an indirect loss of R3.1bn from strikes and stoppages on mines, said Zuma.
"The impact goes beyond the mining sector. The manufacturing sector... is already showing signs of strain," he cautioned.
"We cannot afford to go into a recession, and revert to the 2008 and 2009 period where the country lost close to a million jobs, which we are still battling to recover."
The government on Friday announced a crackdown on the unrest, sending the police with army support in the strik- hit Marikana area to stabilise the area.
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