Implats boardroom set alight

2012-02-22 14:40

Johannesburg - A boardroom was burnt down during ongoing violent protests at Impala Platinum mine (Implats) near Rustenburg on Wednesday, North West police said.

"The boardroom was set on fire in the early hours of this morning [Wednesday], at shaft 7A," said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

He said no injuries were reported. A case of arson had been opened but no arrests had been made.

The protests, which are linked to a five-week long strike at Implats' operation in Rustenburg, have claimed two lives so far.

The mine dismissed 17 000 workers after they went on an unprotected strike demanding that salaries of rock drill operators be increased to R9 000.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) negotiated with the mine to re-employ the dismissed workers.

Some workers, most of them at the north shafts, refused to return to work unless they were paid at least R9 000 a month.

Most NUM members in the north shafts do not want to be represented by the NUM, claiming the union has failed them.

They want to be represented by a new union, the Association of Mining and Construction Union (Amcu).

NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said more workers were coming forward to be re-employed, and by Tuesday over 8 000 had been re-employed.

"The process is moving smoothly," he said.

Implats said on Tuesday that discussions with the NUM would continue around any issues which still needed to be resolved once the workers were back at work.

- SAPA