Miners advised to avoid tribalism in workplace

BURGERSFORT – THE national leadership of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) urged miners at the Marula Platinum Mine in Driekop near Burgersfort to get rid of tribalism amongst them.

The national organiser of the union, Dumisani Nkalitshana and the general secretary, Jeff Mphahlele, recently visited the mine and urged the workers to join their movement in pursuit of higher salaries.

“In 2009 when we came here, we were expelled by the mine management and their National Union of Mineworkers’ (Num) friends but today it’s a different story, we are now in control and we want development,” Nkalitshana said.

“Our aim is to see the miners are well paid; remember that the Marula miners don’t get the same benefits that were agreed on at Impala in Rustenburg.

“We want the same wage deal that Amcu obtained for its members at other Implats’ mines,” he said.

Amcu secured an effective 20% minimum wage increase after a five-month strike action last year.

The Marula operation was not affected by that strike as its Num-affiliated workforce signed a wage deal in 2013.

Mphahlele told the miners to be loyal to the movement and to never be “sell-outs”.

“We want you to have funeral cover and drive expensive cars, and by achieving that we must be ready to strike for more than five months. We don’t want a strike but if the management doesn’t listen, there will be one,” he said.