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Johannesburg - Personalities or ideology should not trump people's welfare, warned economist Mike Schüssler in a column in Die Burger.
"If there is something that makes me angry it is when personalities or ideology trumps people’s welfare and on top of everything we are told that these people would be worse off without this leadership," Schüssler said.
He referred to the involvement of the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) in advising union Amcu and said "a little reading of their website makes it clear that they think they are better communists than the SACP, whom they regard as too soft on business and capitalists".
Schüssler said if they ever looked at the miner they would have noticed that he has already lost at 37.5% of his annual wages.
He was offered 8% on day one before the strike started so would now need at least 45.5% to make up the loss in the first year.
The miner would also need to make up debt repayments for the last while and over the next years, which would add at least another 7% or so.
"Add the fact that higher salaries bring higher taxes then even the lowest paid guy would need to make another 5% as I suppose he is striking for himself and not for the taxman," said Schüssler.
"He is also going to lose the production bonus for another three months or so as it will take the mines a long time to get to 90% of normal production which generally is where miners start earning lots more money."
Schüssler calculates that a lower paid striking miner would need close to a 110% increase over the next five years in total to make up for the losses suffered due to the strike.
A higher paid striker would need at least a 115% increase.
"There is no way that the strikers are going to make up their losses and that is without retrenchments taken into account," said Schüssler.
"So on the biggest issue of the strike – money – the ideologues have enslaved the miners in real poverty and hunger."
In his opinion the understanding of miners' actual finances has never been in the spotlight for advisers.
"When you’re the striker you become the ideologue’s tool. The striker is seen as the fighter - the thoughtless politician’s fool to a paradise where someone else always thinks for you," said Schüssler.
"Too many are going along for the ride as the AIDC slams the mining industry for keeping money overseas to the tune of R15bn. A claim the companies have denied and it seems strange that shareholders, auditors and government did not notice."
Even if one looks at such a figure of R15bn, Schüssler pointed out that over ten years for just over 125 000 people and it is less than R1 000 a month.
"This money is clearly not enough to take the lowest basic R5 500 to R12 500! So their own research is at best an 18% increase for the miner. But they have lost more than twice that in the annual wages already in real hard cash," he said.
"Again, the context is lost on the advisers and the leadership. Advising people to strike themselves into abject poverty should be criminally punished."
"If there is something that makes me angry it is when personalities or ideology trumps people’s welfare and on top of everything we are told that these people would be worse off without this leadership," Schüssler said.
He referred to the involvement of the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) in advising union Amcu and said "a little reading of their website makes it clear that they think they are better communists than the SACP, whom they regard as too soft on business and capitalists".
Schüssler said if they ever looked at the miner they would have noticed that he has already lost at 37.5% of his annual wages.
He was offered 8% on day one before the strike started so would now need at least 45.5% to make up the loss in the first year.
The miner would also need to make up debt repayments for the last while and over the next years, which would add at least another 7% or so.
"Add the fact that higher salaries bring higher taxes then even the lowest paid guy would need to make another 5% as I suppose he is striking for himself and not for the taxman," said Schüssler.
"He is also going to lose the production bonus for another three months or so as it will take the mines a long time to get to 90% of normal production which generally is where miners start earning lots more money."
Schüssler calculates that a lower paid striking miner would need close to a 110% increase over the next five years in total to make up for the losses suffered due to the strike.
A higher paid striker would need at least a 115% increase.
"There is no way that the strikers are going to make up their losses and that is without retrenchments taken into account," said Schüssler.
"So on the biggest issue of the strike – money – the ideologues have enslaved the miners in real poverty and hunger."
In his opinion the understanding of miners' actual finances has never been in the spotlight for advisers.
"When you’re the striker you become the ideologue’s tool. The striker is seen as the fighter - the thoughtless politician’s fool to a paradise where someone else always thinks for you," said Schüssler.
"Too many are going along for the ride as the AIDC slams the mining industry for keeping money overseas to the tune of R15bn. A claim the companies have denied and it seems strange that shareholders, auditors and government did not notice."
Even if one looks at such a figure of R15bn, Schüssler pointed out that over ten years for just over 125 000 people and it is less than R1 000 a month.
"This money is clearly not enough to take the lowest basic R5 500 to R12 500! So their own research is at best an 18% increase for the miner. But they have lost more than twice that in the annual wages already in real hard cash," he said.
"Again, the context is lost on the advisers and the leadership. Advising people to strike themselves into abject poverty should be criminally punished."
