For all his initial enthusiasm, Minister of Mineral Resources Ngoako Ramathlodi's attempts to resolve the platinum strike met the same fate as those of the CCMA, the minister of labour and the Labour Court. The parties downing tools rejected the minister's proposal...
impala
Unsustainable ‘best in class’ Lonmin: destined for breakdowns | by Amandla! editorial staff
Only one week before the massacre in Marikana on 16 August last year, Bench Marks Foundation published its report, 'Policy Gap 6'. It was a part of a long series of critical studies of SA mining. It described in detail the social and environmental havoc created by...
The end of NUM’s hegemony: AMCU and new mlitancy
The Association of Mining and Construction Workers (AMCU) was born in 1998 out of a strike at Douglas Colliery, one of the oldest mines belonging to Ingwe Coal, when 3,000 workers occupied the underground works of the mine in protest against the dismissal of Joseph...
Interview with Gavin Capps on Platinum
Amandla (A!): Is platinum the new gold for the South African economy and how has the global crisis impacted on the industry? GC: Platinum has historically been a relatively marginal metal in the world economy. South Africa has 88 percent of the world's known reserves...
The brutal history of South Africa’s platinum industry | by Gavin Capps
Gavin Capps looks at how platinum has taken centre stage in South Africa's mining industry—and how workers have paid the cost Platinum mining is a big part of South Africa's economy. South Africa holds 88 percent of the world's platinum reserves and accounts for over...
Historic Lonmin faces “perfect storm” after killings
LONDON - "You can never have enough enemies," Tiny Rowland once boasted, but even the buccaneering tycoon who built what is now Lonmin plc might blench before the "perfect storm" it faces after South African police killed 34 strikers at its Marikana platinum mine....
Violence could have been foreseen | by Stuart Theobald
SIX weeks ago I went on a tour of Lonmin's operations in the Bushveld Complex near Rustenburg. It was a PR exercise. I was shown the Marikana clinic where the company had invested millions in impressive facilities. With a group of journalists, we saw schools it...
Platinum Miners
Platinum miners 'will pay for their sins' by André Janse van Vuuren LONMIN and the other major platinum producers of North West will bear the brunt of more violent community protests for as long as discontent over employment, poor service delivery and the harmful...
Slaughter at South Africa’s Marikana mine: the bloody politics of platinum | by Charlie Kimber
Striking South African mineworkers were gunned down by police on Thursday. Charlie Kimber looks at events leading up to the massacre—and the business interests behind it Police in South Africa have opened fire at striking workers at the Marikana platinum mine near...


