Revoke "sector blackmailers' " mining licenses, NUM

27 Jun 2012

In a statement published through PoliticsWeb, Ecliff Tantsi, National Secretary for Education at the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), calls on the ANC to "reject the mining sector blackmail". Instead, the union appeals to the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) to adopt a 'use it or lose it' principle on mining licenses.

Tantsi voices the union's "serious concern" over "the continuous threats by some platinum companies, especially Aquarius to close their shafts in spite of attempts to avert the worst in the industry."

Calling the platinum companies' actions "an attempt to blackmail the ruling party on the eve of its policy conference where the notion of state intervention in the mineral sector will come under the spotlight," Tantsi says the NUM "advises the ANC, the state and the alliance partners to reject the blackmail." Instead, the union suggests that the DMR applies a 'use it or lose it' principle in relation to mining licences: "Companies that are shutting down and retrenching workers must have [their] licences revoked and awarded to those that have capacity to deal with current global economic challenges."

Condemning the "greedy pursuit of super-profits by the mining companies" the NUM says that "South Africa is endowed with mineral wealth and yet is the second most unequal society in the world." Tantsi's says in his PoliticsWeb statement that the union rejects "the status quo mentality of the Chamber of Mines and its allies" and appeals to the ANC and the state to reject it too.

Read the full article on www.politicsweb.co.za.