Sibanye-Stillwater announces death of employee at Amcu strike

JOHANNESBURG –  Sibanye-Stillwater has announced that the strike action held by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) last night at their gold operations resulted in the death of one of their employees and a number of others were left seriously injured. 
Sibanye-Stillwater said they condemn the violence and urged the unions and employees to strike peacefully and respect the rights of others, in a statement issued on Wednesday morning. 
Sibanye said that  reported acts of intimidation and violence will be investigated and employees who are implicated, will be subject to internal disciplinary measures in line with the Company’s policy.
“The safety of our employees is our primary concern and all night shifts have therefore been suspended at the gold operations for the duration of the strike. Operations will continue during the day shift where sufficient employees report for work,” Sibanye said in a statement. 
On 14 November, a three-year wage agreement was signed between Sibanye-Stillwater and the other representative unions; the National Union of Mineworkers (the NUM), Solidarity and UASA. 
The average basic wages for category 4-8 employees have increased by more than 65% since Sibanye-Stillwater was unbundled from Gold Fields in 2013. 
The company said all night shifts had been suspended at its gold operations for the duration of the job boycott.
Spokesperson James Wellsted said that operations would continue during the day shift “where sufficient employees report for work”.
The Amcu member died after he was shot and stabbed during violence at Sibanye’s Kloof mine on Wednesday night which left others injured.  The violence spilt over to Sibanye’s Beatrix operation in Free State province where workers were shot at while leaving the mine to go to their hostel.
Amcu embarked on a protected strike at midnight at all of Sibanye’s operations in South Africa to press for a minimum wage increase of R12,500 and an increase of R1,000 for three years.
Sibanye-Stillwater currently employs approximately 32 200 people at its SA gold operations, with Amcu representing approximately 43% of employees in the bargaining unit.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE 

Source: iol.co.za