Reopening wage talks illegal

Pretoria - Lonmin was unwilling to reopen wage negotiations in 2012 because it would have been illegal, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday.

Barnard Mokwena, who was Lonmin executive president of human capital and external affairs at the time of the 2012 Marikana shootings, told the commission in Pretoria: "It would've been illegal for Lonmin unilaterally to consider reopening wage negotiations for the simple reason we'd have to request consent from all the other parties to do so.

"What precedent would we be setting for the other 20 000 workers? A week later, another 2 000 could come and do the same," he said.

Mokwena said the reopening of wage negotiations on a previous occasion was done through the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and not directly by workers.

He was not surprised when Lonmin rock drill operators approached management asking for a wage increase in June 2012. Rock drill operators at Impala had embarked on a strike in January 2012. By that April, their demands had been met with increases of up to 25 percent.

"You anticipated correctly that what happened at Impala may spread to Lonmin and you called it 'the risk of contagion'," said Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) lawyer Heidi Barnes.

Mokwena agreed.

He said he was not surprised workers had not wanted to negotiate through NUM, which was the recognised union.

In a Lonmin scenario planning document, Mokwena and his colleagues wrote: "The NUM seems to have lost touch with their members and their confidence."

Mokwena said he had not facilitated collective talks between NUM and Amcu because he did not think that the two unions would have agreed to meet.

"Before the 16th [August 2012], when 10 people died, was that not the time for you to say, 'this situation is getting out of hand, people have been killed, should we not call together all the people necessary for an all-inclusive consultation?'," asked the commission's chairman, retired judge Ian Farlam.

"Amcu and NUM before the 16th [August 2012] didn't convince me they were the kind of parties that could actually sit around the table," replied Mokwena.

However, after August 16 2012, when 44 strikers were fatally shot by police, a central forum was established to deal with the rock drill operators' demands.

It was through this forum that their demand was ultimately resolved, Barnes pointed out.

Mokwena said Lonmin would have been willing to negotiate with the strikers only through NUM, despite workers losing faith in the union.

Mokwena was later obliged to apologise in front of the commission for calling Amcu president, Joseph Mathunjwa, a liar on national radio.

"I withdraw that, and I apologise to Joseph," said Mokwena.

Mokwena called Mathunjwa a liar on SAfm, when they appeared on Xolani Gwala's morning programme on August 15, 2012.

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president Senzeni Zokwana also participated in the radio interview.

"You accused him of lying before the South African people. You accused him of twisting the truth," said Farlam.

Mokwena told the commission: "On [the] Friday, I had two partners who were agreeing with me in principle that this was unprotected.... The three of us would run this interview together and workers should go back to work.

"I walked into the studio with the impression that he would reiterate that position," he said.

Mokwena also accused Mathunjwa of calling the striking workers "sinister forces not to be engaged".

Mokwena claimed to have recorded evidence that Amcu had spoken to strikers about wages at a hill near the mine.

However, he had to concede that this was not true.

"I retract that statement," he said.

Lonmin lawyer Azhar Bam told the commission a recording had been made, but could not be found.

Farlam told Bam to submit affidavits of Lonmin employees to the commission to confirm that a recording had been made.

The commission is investigating the deaths of 44 people during unrest near Lonmin's Marikana mine.

Police opened fire on a group of mostly striking mineworkers, killing 34 of them on August 16 2012. Around 70 people were injured and more than 200 were arrested.

Police were apparently trying to disperse and disarm them.

Ten people, including two policemen and two Lonmin security guards, were killed in the preceding week.

The cross-examination of Mokwena continues on Tuesday.