SA ON THE BRINK …
AS MINERS FORM “WAR ROOM” - Miners vowed yesterday to shut down South
Africa's platinum industry, as high-level meetings were being planned to
rescue the strife-torn mining sector. According to ANC insiders, an
urgent national executive committee meeting will be held within days to
discuss how to bring under control the chaos in mining and the
unfettered power of expelled former youth league leader Julius Malema.
"We should be at the centre of what is happening now in the mines
without undermining Cosatu. Being quiet will not help us. We need to
show that we are a governing party together with our alliance partners,"
a senior ANC insider said. Last night, mining bosses met senior
government officials and union leaders in an attempt to stem the violent
strikes that started a month ago at Lonmin's Marikana mine. Anglo
American CEO Cynthia Carroll said they were "in touch with the
authorities at the highest level" to identify how t
hey
could work together. The "authorities" were both government and trade
unions, according to a spokesman. The National Union of Mineworkers has
called a special national executive conference tomorrow also to discuss
the events at Marikana and other platinum mines. "We are highly
concerned because these people can lose their jobs," NUM spokesman
Lesiba Seshoka said last night. He pointed out that both Amplats and
Goldfields had issued retrenchment notices in June and July and NUM was
concerned that the strikers were handing mining companies the power to
retrench them. Yesterday, striking miners at Marikana and the nearby
Anglo Platinum mine outside Rustenburg formed a "war room" to fight
together for salaries to be raised to R12500 a month. Almost 10000
miners from Amplats are expected to join the strikers at Lonmin. A
mining executive, who did not want to be named, described the sector as
"a runaway train".
Johannesburg - ANC members of the parliamentary
portfolio committee for mineral resources would not visit the
violence-stricken Lonmin platinum mine in Rustenburg because it was not
safe, according to a report on Thursday.
James Lorimer,
DA MP, suggested on Wednesday that the committee should either hold a
parliamentary hearing, or visit the Marikana mine to hear the miners'
grievances, Beeld reported.
Opposition parties supported the idea, but the ANC majority rejected it.
"We can't go and talk to a crowd with suicidal tendencies," said the ANC's Rose Sonto.
Fred Gona (ANC), committee chairperson, said members should wait until processes already underway had been completed.
"We'll
leave space for the negotiators who are already there to do their
job... by the time we go there, the situation will have normalised."
Gona also said the situation in Marikana was too dangerous.
Lorimer compared the MPs with ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
He
said the committee, which was supposed to be responsible for overseeing
mining matters in Parliament, had done nothing since the Marikana
mining tragedy four weeks ago.
Eric Lucas, IFP MP, said committee members should start behaving like adults.
"Rome is burning. Your words break a person's heart," he said.
- SAPA
Johannesburg - ANC members of the parliamentary
portfolio committee for mineral resources would not visit the
violence-stricken Lonmin platinum mine in Rustenburg because it was not
safe, according to a report on Thursday.
James Lorimer, DA MP, suggested on Wednesday that the committee should either hold a parliamentary hearing, or visit the Marikana mine to hear the miners' grievances, Beeld reported.
Opposition parties supported the idea, but the ANC majority rejected it.
"We can't go and talk to a crowd with suicidal tendencies," said the ANC's Rose Sonto.
Fred Gona (ANC), committee chairperson, said members should wait until processes already underway had been completed.
"We'll leave space for the negotiators who are already there to do their job... by the time we go there, the situation will have normalised."
Gona also said the situation in Marikana was too dangerous.
Lorimer compared the MPs with ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
He said the committee, which was supposed to be responsible for overseeing mining matters in Parliament, had done nothing since the Marikana mining tragedy four weeks ago.
Eric Lucas, IFP MP, said committee members should start behaving like adults.
"Rome is burning. Your words break a person's heart," he said.
James Lorimer, DA MP, suggested on Wednesday that the committee should either hold a parliamentary hearing, or visit the Marikana mine to hear the miners' grievances, Beeld reported.
Opposition parties supported the idea, but the ANC majority rejected it.
"We can't go and talk to a crowd with suicidal tendencies," said the ANC's Rose Sonto.
Fred Gona (ANC), committee chairperson, said members should wait until processes already underway had been completed.
"We'll leave space for the negotiators who are already there to do their job... by the time we go there, the situation will have normalised."
Gona also said the situation in Marikana was too dangerous.
Lorimer compared the MPs with ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
He said the committee, which was supposed to be responsible for overseeing mining matters in Parliament, had done nothing since the Marikana mining tragedy four weeks ago.
Eric Lucas, IFP MP, said committee members should start behaving like adults.
"Rome is burning. Your words break a person's heart," he said.
- SAPA
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