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IT'S been 75 days since workers on the platinum belt went out on strike on January 23 and there is still no end in sight.
And the economy is bleeding. It's been estimated that around 500 000 ounces of platinum output has been lost to date due to the strike. Platinum currently costs around $1 435 per ounce. That means around R7.8bn has been lost. Roughly that's about R2.2bn in lost tax revenue.
Besides that, for every day the strike lasts the three platinum majors - Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin - won't be spending R67m on services and goods, won't spend R7m on rates and taxes and won't invest R33m in capital projects.
They would also not spend R88m per day on wages (last statistics recently mentioned by Lonmin boss Ben Magara).
As for the strikers themselves, they must be starving by now. They are not getting paid a cent while industrial action lasts. The longer they strike, the worse it's going to get. And their union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), arguably has neither the resources nor the administration to provide sufficiently for workers' needs during the strike action.
If the miners get no money, their families get no money. Their kids go hungry.
Thus it's very feasible to argue many communities in the country's most vulnerable areas are starving thanks to this strike.
So my question is, why is the government so quiet on this massively destructive strike?
There has been an almost blanket silence from government.
For example, how many times have we seen the minister of mineral resources or the minister of labour addressing the miners or the press on the strike in the past ten-and-a-half weeks?
This is the same government that claims to be concerned about the high unemployment rate - a government that says it understands the needs of the private sector, and is working hard to attract foreign investment
Also, how does government think this will end? Mining houses are already delaying further investment (that would lead to more new jobs), and already warning of massive job losses. These groups have already declared force majeure - where a company tells its customers it may not be able to meet contractual requirements.
Is the reason for the silence the fact that these workers on strike are not affiliated to trade federation Cosatu?
Is the reason perhaps because upstart Amcu has made it clear that it is not open to political influence? Cosatu-affiliated union the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has been gutted by Amcu, losing thousands of members to the new union.
NUM is not even the largest union on the platinum belt any more. That honour is now Amcu's. Cosatu of course is part of the ruling tripartite alliance. A weaker NUM leads to a weaker Cosatu. That leads to a weaker tripartite alliance, and it is after all an election year.
The theory would be, the longer the strike drags out, the weaker Amcu could get. If Amcu starts losing supporters it could potentially lead to a resurgence of support for NUM, something that is clearly in Cosatu's best interest.
Also consider government's actions with unions that are seen to be aligned to the tripartite alliance, like the South African Democratic Teachers' Union that has seemingly got away with contributing to the crisis in the education system, especially in the Eastern Cape.
The destructive nature of this platinum sector strike is sure to increase exponentially, potentially even impacting the national elections in less than four weeks' time. Many would say the workers are making unreasonable demands. That may be so.
And of course there are a number of processes and institutes like Nedlac which are looking at the issue, that is true. The point is, though, perhaps these miners simply want to be heard where it matters, where they will get real recourse.
Is their government listening to them?
- Fin24
*Follow James-Brent Styan on Twitter at @jamesstyan. Views expressed are his own.
@jamesstyan
And the economy is bleeding. It's been estimated that around 500 000 ounces of platinum output has been lost to date due to the strike. Platinum currently costs around $1 435 per ounce. That means around R7.8bn has been lost. Roughly that's about R2.2bn in lost tax revenue.
Besides that, for every day the strike lasts the three platinum majors - Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin - won't be spending R67m on services and goods, won't spend R7m on rates and taxes and won't invest R33m in capital projects.
They would also not spend R88m per day on wages (last statistics recently mentioned by Lonmin boss Ben Magara).
As for the strikers themselves, they must be starving by now. They are not getting paid a cent while industrial action lasts. The longer they strike, the worse it's going to get. And their union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu), arguably has neither the resources nor the administration to provide sufficiently for workers' needs during the strike action.
If the miners get no money, their families get no money. Their kids go hungry.
Thus it's very feasible to argue many communities in the country's most vulnerable areas are starving thanks to this strike.
So my question is, why is the government so quiet on this massively destructive strike?
There has been an almost blanket silence from government.
For example, how many times have we seen the minister of mineral resources or the minister of labour addressing the miners or the press on the strike in the past ten-and-a-half weeks?
This is the same government that claims to be concerned about the high unemployment rate - a government that says it understands the needs of the private sector, and is working hard to attract foreign investment
Also, how does government think this will end? Mining houses are already delaying further investment (that would lead to more new jobs), and already warning of massive job losses. These groups have already declared force majeure - where a company tells its customers it may not be able to meet contractual requirements.
Is the reason for the silence the fact that these workers on strike are not affiliated to trade federation Cosatu?
Is the reason perhaps because upstart Amcu has made it clear that it is not open to political influence? Cosatu-affiliated union the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has been gutted by Amcu, losing thousands of members to the new union.
NUM is not even the largest union on the platinum belt any more. That honour is now Amcu's. Cosatu of course is part of the ruling tripartite alliance. A weaker NUM leads to a weaker Cosatu. That leads to a weaker tripartite alliance, and it is after all an election year.
The theory would be, the longer the strike drags out, the weaker Amcu could get. If Amcu starts losing supporters it could potentially lead to a resurgence of support for NUM, something that is clearly in Cosatu's best interest.
Also consider government's actions with unions that are seen to be aligned to the tripartite alliance, like the South African Democratic Teachers' Union that has seemingly got away with contributing to the crisis in the education system, especially in the Eastern Cape.
The destructive nature of this platinum sector strike is sure to increase exponentially, potentially even impacting the national elections in less than four weeks' time. Many would say the workers are making unreasonable demands. That may be so.
And of course there are a number of processes and institutes like Nedlac which are looking at the issue, that is true. The point is, though, perhaps these miners simply want to be heard where it matters, where they will get real recourse.
Is their government listening to them?
- Fin24
*Follow James-Brent Styan on Twitter at @jamesstyan. Views expressed are his own.
@jamesstyan
