20,000 S. African Miners Face Dismissal

Union officials said Sunday that about 20,000 striking black miners at South Africa’s major gold and coal mines face dismissal today unless they report to work, as the country’s largest strike ever entered its third week.

The threatened dismissals came amid reports of violence Sunday in which an unknown number of miners were injured in a clash with mine security guards, union officials added.

The violence began when security guards at Kinross mine fired tear gas into employee quarters, a spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers said.

“After that, it was quite a mess,” spokesman Tshidiso Mothupi said. “It seems a lot of men were hurt. The mine would not let union officials go in, but we saw an ambulance making four trips to the hospital.”

Ultimatum to Strikers

He said security guards also reportedly attacked miners as they fled their hostels, firing rubber bullets and using wooden batons.

Kinross is one of four mines belonging to General Mining Union Corp., known as Gencor, which has issued an ultimatum to strikers to return to work or face disciplinary action. Gencor will begin disciplinary hearings this week against 23,000 other striking miners.

The Anglo American Corp., the country’s biggest gold producer, said today’s deadline for gold and coal miners to return to their jobs was designed to “restore production to normal.”

Three major mining companies, including Gencor and Anglo American, have already dismissed more than 9,000 strikers and threatened another 41,000 with dismissal or disciplinary hearings.

About 340,000 of South Africa’s 600,000 black miners have joined the strike at 45 mines, according to union officials. They are seeking a 30% pay increase, improved death benefits and hazard pay.

Cyril Ramaphosa, general secretary of the union, says it would take the industry six months to hire and train replacements for the strikers.

“We have not accepted that our members have been lawfully dismissed,” he said. “The actions by the company will be challenged.”

The Chamber of Mines, which represents the six companies targeted by the strike, says 230,000 miners are on strike at 29 mines.