South African labour minister to meet miners’ unions

Labour minister Mildred Oliphant was headed to South Africa’s platinum belt Friday to meet with major unions in hopes of tamping down tensions after last week’s deadly violence, her spokesman said.

“She has got a meeting with unions, most of the unions, the big unions and the big federations” in Rustenburg, the main city in the platinum-rich region where 44 died last week in clashes at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, spokesman Musa Zondi told AFP.

“The Department of Labour … is interested in the economic growth of the country. It is in that spirit that she goes to the meeting,” he told AFP.

He declined to comment on what issues she planned to discuss, but noted that salaries, housing and working conditions were topics for unions and employers rather than the ministry.

About 3,000 rock drill operators at the Lonmin mine launched an illegal strike on August 10 that quickly devolved into clashes with non-strikers.

Ten people including two police were killed, leading to the crackdown on August 16 when police gunned down 34 armed miners. Police insist that they used teargas first and only opened fire after miners shot at them. The miners say they were armed with only spears, machetes and clubs.

South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday named a judicial probe with a wide-ranging mandate to investigate not only the violence but also the labour conditions at the mines.