Marikana and the ghost of 1922

(Published in Mining, official magazine of the Chamber of Mines - September 2012)

By Stef Terblanche

Not since the mineworkers’ strike and rebellion of 1922 has South Africa witnessed the kind of violence, upheaval and turmoil seen at its mines this year, and more particularly on the platinum belt. Between August and September alone these developments already cost the lives of at least 46 people, with around 300 more injured. A large number of people are facing criminal trials, while the army was deployed – as in 1922 - to help police restore peace and order.

Since the beginning of this year production losses in the mining industry due to stoppages and disruptions have run into billions of rands. Thousands of mineworkers’ jobs may also be on the line. The already hard-pressed platinum mining industry has been dealt a further severe blow by the labour unrest that quickly spread to other mines and sectors.

The platinum sector already experienced serious pressures as investors held back because of a saturated global market and the persistent European recession. Now, on top of that, the labour unrest caused investor sentiments to take a further negative dive. At the same time rating agencies also took a dim view of events.

Almost 91 years ago, on 28 December 1921, workers on the Witwatersrand gold mines went on strike after the mining companies tried to lower the wages of their white labour force to compensate for losses suffered due to a falling gold price. In addition, the mining companies tried to do away with much of the colour bar on the mines and replace white workers with lower-paid black labour. To a large extent that and subsequent developments entrenched the colour bar and resultant race-based socio-economic conditions, job reservation, and racially differentiated pay scales in the industry for many decades.

Some argue that despite the mining industry having been transformed significantly since 1994, the lingering side-effects of that discriminatory era in the industry continue to be present to this day and may even have contributed to the underlying causes of the tragic events that unfolded at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in August.

Be that as it may, political activists in 1922 – not unlike some of their latter day counterparts – were quick to exploit the already violent strike and instigated further uprisings, turning it into a rebellion. Prime Minister Jan Smuts brought in the army and even tanks, artillery and bomber planes to crush the rebellion after the mineworkers besieged several suburbs and towns around Johannesburg and turned to violence. Over 200 people died with scores more being injured.

A political backlash followed and Smuts was ousted in the 1924 general election. The new government adopted legislation that would entrench racial discrimination in the industry for many decades and protect the jobs of the white strikers.

Thankfully things did not go quite as far this time round, but the loss of life, the destruction of property, injuries and other losses have been bad enough. This time the strikers and their supporters also carried weapons and turned violent, while they barricaded the streets and entrances to residential settlements in the vicinity of affected mines and fought running battles with police.  The strikes have been illegal across the board, with intimidation and lawlessness being the order of the day.

In late August the strikers and others who had joined them killed 11 people – policemen, security guards, and a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) shop steward among them. The situation at Marikana became increasingly threatening and out of control, and on August 16 police opened fire on the Lonmin strikers killing 34 of them. Most of the striking workers belonged to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) which was recruiting members on the mines in competition with the NUM.

President Jacob Zuma announced the establishment of a commission of enquiry to be led by retired Judge Ian Farlam and sent an inter-ministerial committee led by Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane to the scene. According to the justice department the commission will cost taxpayers an estimated R68-million to R74-million.

Commenting on the unfolding events at the time, Chamber of Mines chief executive Bheki Sibiya said “illegal strikes are lawlessness. Mines are not in the business of dealing in lawlessness. The law enforcement authorities should play a greater role to prevent the lawlessness, while it is the government’s responsibility to engage community leaders and bring this lawlessness to an end.”

Since then the government did announce a security crackdown and deployed police in greater numbers with some 1,000 soldiers brought out to support them. Government also engaged with the affected mines, unions and strikers. But the damage had already been done.

Sibiya also said that these developments were distracting the mining industry from its responsibility to run mines efficiently, supply products to the market, make a profit, create and sustain jobs, and carrying out its transformation mandate.

He pointed out that the events at Lonmin’s Marikana mine and those that were taking place at other mines went beyond industrial action. Sibiya said that, for instance, out of the 293 people who were injured during the strike in Marikana, 133 of them were found to be unemployed people who had nothing to do with Lonmim.

In 1922 it was leaders of the Labour and Communist Parties that instigated the strikers to extend their strike and confront the mining companies and government in a rebellion. This time round it was the expelled former ANC Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema and some colleagues who went from mine to mine inciting workers to continue their illegal strikes until their demands were met. Sibiya, like the government and many others, took a dim view of this, labelling Malema “an opportunist” who was exploiting the situation to serve his own personal agenda.

"The industry has to meet the targets of the mining charter in 2014 and it certainly will not help us get there when people behave like Malema," said Sibiya.

The Lonmin workers’ wage increase of between 10% and 22% eventually agreed to was met by conflicting opinions about its implications among various role-players in the industry. While business and government welcomed the settlement – as it put an end to the unrest at Lonmin’s Marikana mine – the ANC, Cosatu and others warned against its consequences.

NUM president Senzeni Zokwana cautioned that the Marikana deal will put the future of formal negotiation structures under "threat" in that workers may believe they can achieve similar results outside these structures, or that workers at other mines may also demand similar settlements. Among others, leaders like Zokwana, Cosatu general secretary Zwelizima Vavi and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe shared this concern.

Indeed, the ink on the Lonmin deal had hardly dried when unprotected strikes spread to other mines with workers demanding similar increases. But companies like Gold Fields, whose workers were striking at its KDC west operations, near Carletonville, said they would and could not negotiate individually because gold mining companies, unlike platinum mines, negotiate in a collective bargaining forum. Furthermore, the gold mining sector is midway through a two-year wage agreement.

Following the recent events, it seems the platinum mining industry may now also seek to secure a collective bargaining arrangement for the future.

The causes and consequences of the Marikana strike are many and complicated and it is best left to the Farlam commission to determine these. Already many possible causes and consequences have been raised with different parties holding contradictory views on claims around, for instance, the living conditions of workers, the level of remuneration received by workers, and more.

However, one possible contributing factor may have been the current labour legislation. In the wake of the Marikana tragedy, labour relations experts and non-Cosatu union officials were calling for a review of labour laws to prevent the uneven competition among unions that they believe may have contributed to the Marikana tragedy.

Legislation currently favours recognition of majority unions, leaving little legal space in which minority unions can operate. This may have been a consequence of Cosatu’s demand of “one industry, one union” at the time the legislation was being drafted. As a result, current labour legislation holds that a union with membership of 50% plus one in a specific workforce category can insist that employers negotiate with it exclusively.

That has suppressed free competition and has made it very difficult for employers to create structures in which they can negotiate with minority unions. Cosatu, however, is known to be opposed to any review of labour legislation. Following the recent events, President Jacob Zuma also poured cold water on opposition demands for such a review.

Marikana could not have happened at a worse time. Negative market conditions, low platinum prices, weakened demand, and global economic developments were already putting pressures on production and profits. In 2008 the price of platinum – historically more volatile than that of gold – fell from U$2,252 to U$774/oz., shedding almost two-thirds of its value. In February this year the platinum price was at a high of U$1,729/oz before plunging to a low of U$1,384 in June. By August platinum was trading at around U$1,390.

In its interim results report released in June, the world’s biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), stated: “Global demand for platinum during the first half of 2012 was marginally weaker than expected as firmer jewellery demand, stimulated by current depressed price levels, was unable to offset weak auto catalyst and investment demand. Industrial demand for platinum remained flat as expected”.

The low global demand for platinum and the very limited alternative markets resulted in mines looking at cost-cutting initiatives and down-scaling operations. Naturally they would resist sudden demands for hefty pay increases outside of pay agreements already officially in place and accompanied by illegal wildcat strikes. Another possible consequence of the labour unrest is that many jobs could be lost. According to National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Frans Baleni as many as 10,000 jobs could be on the line.

But even despite all these developments, the Chamber of Mines cautioned about making a conclusion that the industry as a whole is in crisis. "We have to understand the causes of the industrial action that is taking place," spokesman Vusi Mabena said. “Strikes are not taking place across the sector, but are restricted to platinum and possibly to gold. It is a serious generalisation to say that the entire industry is in crisis.”

"At the time when the strikes started, the platinum industry was already going through difficult times," he said. “Then the demand for increases of wages to R12,500 came on top of that.”

Finally, Shanduka chairperson Cyril Ramaphosa, who sits on the board of Lonmin, believes something good may yet come out of the Marikana tragedy. The industry, says Ramaphosa, was poised for a “step-change” that will bring significant improvement, he said.

There is hope that the ghost of 1922, and now that of 2012, will be laid to rest.

Timeline of key developments before and after Marikana

·         1999:  Joseph Mathunjwa, a NUM leader at BHP Billiton’s Douglas Colliery, forced out of the union then led by Gwede Mantashe who is now ANC secretary-general. He launches AMCU and starts recruiting coal and platinum miners in competition with NUM.

·         2006: Archie Palane, NUM’s deputy secretary-general, popular on the platinum mines, is prevented from succeeding Mantashe as secretary-general apparently for political reasons. After he exits workers on platinum mines feel abandoned by NUM.

·         2006 – 2012: AMCU makes serious inroads into NUM membership but struggles for recognition and participation in formal bargaining structures under existing labour legislation.

·         Thursday 20 January, 2012: Start of wildcat strike over pay and conditions at Impala Platinum (Implats), Rustenburg. Three workers die in clashes between AMCU strikers and NUM non-strikers and over 17,000 workers are fired.

·         Monday 5 March: Implats strike ends and most workers are re-hired.

·         April: Implats implements 8-10% pay increase as part of settlement with workers.

·         Friday 10 August: AMCU workers launch wildcat strike at Lonmin, Marikana demanding pay hike.

·         Sunday 12 August: NUM and AMCU workers clash over wildcat strike – tensions rise.

·         Tuesday 14 August: Police gather at Lonmin, Marikana after striking AMCU workers and supporters kill 10 people including 2 policemen.

·         Thursday 16 August: 34 workers die, 78 are injured and 270 arrested when police open fire on Lonmin strikers, many of them heavily armed.

·         Friday 17 August: Meeting between Chamber of Mines and AMCU scheduled a week earlier postponed due to previous day’s events.

·         Saturday 18 August: Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu convenes urgent meeting of mining industry stakeholders to address investor concerns following Lonmin unrest. Expelled ANC youth leader Julius Malema urges other mineworkers to join in the campaign waged by Lonmin workers.

·         Tuesday 21 August:  Malema accompanies striking miners to lay murder charges against police involved in shooting dead the 34 miners.

·         Wednesday 22 August: Unrest spreads to other mines.

·         Wednesday 22 August: President Jacob Zuma visits Marikana and scene of the shootings and meets with strikers.

·         Thursday 23 August: National day of mourning declared. Malema calls for a "mining revolution" in South Africa. President Zuma appoints judicial commission of inquiry into Marikana tragedy.

·         Thursday 23 August: Chamber of Mines holds first meeting with AMCU.

·         Monday 3 September: Four miners injured in strike violence at Modder East goldmine. Authorities release the first batch of the 270 Marikana miners.

·         Wednesday 5 September: Trade union Solidarity lays incitement charge against Julius Malema. Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane and NUM strongly condemn Malema’s provocative statements and populist rhetoric.

·         Friday 7 September: Floyd Shivambu, suspended ANC Youth League spokesperson and now campaign leader for the Friends of the Youth League, tells Mail & Guardian campaign to destabilise mines and national mass action to bring mining industry to a halt will be intensified.

·         Monday 10 September:  Some 15,000 workers down tools at a Gold Fields mine.

·         Tuesday 11 September: Body of man hacked to death found at Marikana bringing death toll to 45. Around 3% of Lonmin’s 28,000 Marikana workers report for duty.

·         Tuesday 11 September: Julius Malema addresses 15,000 striking workers at Gold Fields’ Kloof and Driefontein Complex (KDC) near Carletonville, telling them there must be a national strike at all the mines until NUM leadership steps down and pay is increased to R12, 500. Chamber of Mines and NUM dismiss Malema and his calls.

·         Wednesday 12 September: Anglo American Platinum halts operations at 5 mines in Rustenburg area over safety concerns after some workers strike, intimidating non-strikers.

·         Thursday 13 September: Calls by labour experts, non-Cosatu unions, political parties, mining companies and others that labour laws be reviewed to allow smaller unions to participate in wage negotiations and avoid conflict like that at Lonmin.

·         Friday 14 September: Labour unrest at Aquarius Platinum in Kroondal near Rustenburg. The mine halts operations. Ferrochrome producer Xstrata evacuates all staff at its Kroondal chrome mine due to increased protests. Government announces a security clampdown.

·         Saturday 15 September: Police and soldiers move into Marikana. Several are injured in clashes, including many women.

·         Monday 17 September: Police arrest 42 people for embarking on an illegal strike at Royal Bafokeng Platinum. Aquarius Platinum resumes operations. President Jacob Zuma tells Cosatu’s national congress that work stoppages on platinum, gold and coal mines have caused a loss of production to the tune of R4.62-billion in the last nine months, while the state had lost a further R3.1-billion.

·         Tuesday 18 September: Workers and management at Marikana agree to wage increases ranging between 10% and 22% and an end to the strike. Anglo American Platinum reopens five mines closed the previous week over unrest.

·         Wednesday 19 September: Police fired rubber bullets at a crowd near an Anglo American Platinum mine in Rustenburg. Workers insist their strike continues but the company says it is over.

·         Thursday 20 September: Striking Lonmin workers start returning to work as a result of the wage agreement agreed to. Cosatu and others warn the agreement could destabilise formal bargaining structures and systems and workers will demand the same at other mines. NUM says up to 10,000 jobs could be lost as mining companies say some shafts have become unprofitable due to recent events. Labour unrest spreads to AngloGold Ashanti.

·         Friday 21 September: NUM meets with Chamber of Mines to discuss wages of mine workers nationally.