Strike at South Africa's largest gold miner likely to spread, bringing further violence and shutdowns in sector

Mining company Sibanye-Stillwater on 22 November announced that one of its employees had been shot dead and four others seriously injured during a violent strike that halted activity at its gold mines in South Africa's Free State and Gauteng provinces. The strike was called by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) on 21 November after the employer had come to a three-year wage agreement with the other unions at the mine, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Solidarity. AMCU is holding out for a better deal, and members have begun intimidating those employees from other unions that have returned to work. The deceased was an NUM member. AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa said the strike would be extended to Sibanye-Stillwater’s platinum mines around Rustenburg in a sympathy strike. Sibanye-Stillwater has stopped all night shifts at its gold mines to reduce the potential for violence.

Significance: Mathunjwa has blamed the violence on the employer, stating that it has pitted unions against each other deliberately and used its security services to antagonise protesting AMCU workers. Should AMCU not come to an agreement with Sibanye-Stillwater within the next week, which appears likely, AMCU workers are very likely to begin striking across all Sibanye-Stillwater mines, including at platinum mines in North West province. Unlike in the gold sector, AMCU is the dominant union across the platinum belt, and a strike there is likely to significantly affect production. Additionally, the longer the strike continues, the greater the likelihood of further violence in the gold mines, and this is likely to spill over to mines other than those belonging to Sibanye-Stillwater, as AMCU mobilises all its members for a better wage agreement. If AMCU begins to mobilise its members at gold and platinum mines other than those belonging to Sibanye-Stillwater, the risk of violence among employees of different unions, as well as interruptions to production, will be increased significantly. If Sibanye-Stillwater is able to reach a wage agreement with AMCU at its gold mines, this will lower the risk of violence and interruptions to production.