Peacekeeping force for mines?

4 Jun 2013

The government is considering deploying a peacekeeping force to the mining sector, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said on Monday (3 June).

Mildred Oliphant (Image: GCIS)

The objective was to contain the violence which had plagued the mining sector, she told reporters at OR Tambo International Airport, in Kempton Park.

"If there is a need to deploy that peacekeeping force, we have to do so in the mining sector as a whole, because we can't take a chance that as it [violence] has not happened here, probably it is not going to happen," Oliphant said.

This would be discussed with Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe at a meeting that was expected to be held on Monday (3 June).

Oliphant said the government needed to be pro-active in dealing with the violence, which had marred strikes in the mining sector.

She was speaking after meeting the Congress of SA Trade Unions, its affiliate the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), and its affiliate the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

Oliphant said she had received reports from the NUM that two of its members were shot in Marikana, North West, on Monday (3 June).

Troubled labour relations

Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said earlier a man believed to be a NUM member was killed and another person wounded in a shooting at Lonmin's Wonderkop hostel.

"One died at the scene and one has been taken to the hospital," Mokgwabone said.

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said both men were shop stewards.

Labour relations in the mining sector have taken centre stage since the killing of 44 people near Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana last year.

Tensions between the NUM and Amcu have intensified in the platinum sector, leading to violence and strikes.

President Jacob Zuma tasked Motlanthe with leading interactions with the unions and mining companies.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Oliphant, and Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu would help him.

Oliphant said while the union federations and their affiliates had the right to represent workers, they had to execute their duties within the country's labour laws.

"We have agreed that there is going to be a follow-up meeting which will be convened by the director-general [of the department], precisely to continue with the discussions on how the stability in the mining sector will come about," she said.

Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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