New spat emerges in platinum strike

Johannesburg - A public spat emerged on Monday between the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Chamber of Mines over the former's handling of talks to end the strike in the platinum mining sector.

The squabbling between the Chamber of Mines and the CCMA makes it doubtful that any government-brokered negotiations will get off the ground again soon to end the almost seven-week strike.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) downed tools on January 23 in a strike over wages at Anglo Platinum [JSE:AMS], Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] and Lonmin [JSE:LON].

Last Wednesday the wage talks collapsed and the CCMA said the two sides remained too far apart and needed time "to reflect on their respective positions".

Elize Strydom, the chief negotiator for the country's Chamber of Mines, who has been spearheading the talks on behalf of the platinum producers, told the Sunday Times newspaper the CCMA's commissioners had shown an "absolute lack of economic acumen" when it came to the talks.

"Senior commissioners of the CCMA need to understand economics, otherwise you cannot be a negotiator, let alone a facilitator or mediator," she told the newspaper.

The CCMA hit back on Monday, saying it was calling on the chamber to retract Strydom's comments or face unspecified consequences.

"We are concerned that it will impair the trust relations key to mediation," it said.

Officials from the Chamber of Mines could not immediately be reached for comment.

Amcu last week softened its stance for the first time, saying it now wanted staggered increases to bring the basic entry wage to R12 500 a month in three years' time, more than double current levels, instead of immediately.

The companies, however, say they are sticking to their latest offer of increases of up to 9% on the grounds they cannot afford any more given rising costs and depressed prices for the precious metal used for emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles.

As the stoppage becomes increasingly protracted, employees have lost earnings of more than R3.4bn and it has cost the companies so far R7.7bn in revenue, according to a tally updated almost every second on the Chamber of Mines' website.