Congo’s South Kivu governor suspends mining operations in province
The decision will hit artisanal miners of metals such as gold and tin hard, as they are the region's dominant producers.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa bemoaned the poor state of labor relations at some mining companies in the country just days after striking Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. gold miners stormed the stage where he was speaking in the city of Rustenburg.
The workers, on strike at South Africa’s biggest precious metals producer for the last two months, were demanding that the company meet their demands. Ramaphosa was forced to abort his May day speech and was taken to safety by his security detail.
Ramaphosa, who founded the country’s biggest mining union in the 1980s and led the largest-ever gold industry strike, urged mining companies to negotiate with workers without mentioning Sibanye by name.
“Hostility between employers and employees should belong in the dustbin of history,” he said on Friday in a speech at a mine owned by Anglo American Platinum Ltd. “We should not continue to be trapped by the past where there was total hostility between stakeholders.”
Sibanye’s workers want a raise of 1,000 rand ($63 a month), while the company is offering 850 rand. They were further angered late last month when Sibanye revealed that its chief executive officer, Neal Froneman, had earned 300 million rand in the financial year, mainly due to the performance of the company’s shares.
(By Antony Sguazzin)
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