Pretoria - Government has urged mine-owners and workers to work together in order to end protracted strike in the platinum belt.
“Political opportunism and grandstanding should make way for intense and focused negotiations aimed at breaking the current wage dispute deadlock in the interest of sustainable mining,” North West Premier Thandi Modise said on Friday.
On Friday, the Anglican Church of South Africa also shared the view, as it prayed for the end of the strike.
“We welcome the prayers that the Anglican parishes across the country will be offering on Sunday and also call on other denominations and faiths to pray for an end to the human disaster that is unfolding as a result of employees not earning any income,” Premier Modise said.
She said church leaders had played a significant role in mediation in the aftermath of the Marikana tragedy and government is still looking up to them to continue playing a constructive role in order to prevent job losses and another calamity.
Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) at Lonmin, Implats, and Amplats in Rustenburg and at Northam in Limpopo downed tools on January 23 demanding a basic monthly salary of R12.500.
The strike has cost the companies over R17.8 billion in revenue and workers have lost more than R7.9bn in earnings. - SAnews.gov.za
