South African police fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse protesters near a mine run by top platinum producer Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the first sign of unrest spreading after strikers at smaller rival Lonmin won big pay rises.
Within hours of Lonmin agreeing to a pay increase of 11 to 22 per cent, workers at neighbouring mines were calling for similar hikes, suggesting more trouble in store after six weeks of industrial action that has claimed 45 lives and threatened Africa’s biggest economy.
“We want management to meet us as well now,” an organiser for the militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) at Impala Platinum, the number two producer, told reporters.
“We want 9,000 rand (US$1,100) a month as a basic wage instead of the roughly 5,000 rand we are getting.” He declined to be named for fear of recriminations from the company.
Lonmin shares soared more than nine per cent to levels not seen since police shot dead 34 miners on August 16 outside its Marikana mine, 100 km northwest of Johannesburg.
However, the deal could add 13 per cent to the company’s recurrent costs, plus an additional US$10 million for a one-off back-to-work bonus, Nomura said in a note. Lonmin is already battling with a shaky balance sheet and unprofitable shafts.