IMPALA Platinum said it was monitoring an unprotected strike among contractors at its Impala Rustenburg North shaft. “It’s not giving us headaches but we take it seriously,” said Johan Theron, head of corporate affairs and strategy at the miner.
“These things can blow up quickly, so at the moment we are trying to understand what the grievances are and to communicate that this is unprotected,” he said.
The National Union of Mineworkers said earlier on Thursday it “categorically distances” itself from the strike that started on May 31. “Our members are not part of this industrial action,” it said, adding there had been “targeted attacks, intimidation, and harassment of its members at Impala’s South Shaft in Rustenburg.
Rivalry between NUM and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union is not nearly as fierce as several years ago, but it still exists, especially as leadership battles flare up and a year ahead of wage negotiation season.
A strike in April at Impala Rustenburg involving hundreds of workers from NUM was resolved within two weeks, Theron said. In that strike, NUM members were demanding formal recognition from one of its shaft operators, Triple M Mining. Implats leases the operation of one of its shafts to Triple M Mining which employs about 2,000.
