Mantashe facilitating talks between Sibanye-Stillwater and unions

The government, led by Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe is facilitating talks between Sibanye Stillwater and unions representing workers regarding the nine-week wage strike.

Both unions and Sibanye confirmed that on Monday Mantashe facilitated a meeting between the two parties after President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to abandon his address at the Workers’ Day rally in Rustenburg when angry workers booed him off stage.

Chaos at the Workers’ Day rally :

Two of the biggest unions at Sibanye the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the National Union of Mineworkers have rejected Sibanye latest offer of R850, demanding a R1 000 increase.

NUM Branch Secretary Mthobeli Mankani has addressed workers in Carltonville, west of Johannesburg.

“He said it is the responsibility of the unions to ensure that the strike or the dispute is resolved. He said it is not his responsibility as the minister (to end the strike), he said his responsibility is just to facilitate. We’re meeting again on Thursday, at the business park which is in Lebanon at 10 o’clock, with both NUM and AMCU and the employees and that meeting will be facilitated by the Minister of DMRE which is Mr. Gwede Mantashe and I hope in that meeting the strike will be resolved.”

NUM says Sibanye has not demonstrated anything to show that it is negotiating in good faith: