By Alexis Flynn
LONDON--South African mining company Gold Fields Limited
(GFI.JO) said Wednesday that the unlawful strike by 12,000
employees at the KDC East mine has been resolved and workers will
return to their shifts before the day is out.
The resolution brings an end to a significant escalation to
violent strikes that have mainly affected South Africa's platinum
mining industry. Violent labor disputes gripped platinum mining in
the country for much of August, but Gold Fields miners went out on
strike for the first time last week.
The Gold Fields announcement came shortly after South Africa's
Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies, said at an investor
briefing in London that his government's "focus of attention" will
be on how mining companies treat their workers.
Visits to Marikana, the Lonmin PLC (LMI.LN) platinum mine which
has seen the worst strikes, had shown the, "appalling," conditions
that platinum workers had to endure and said that the mining
companies, "who make millions," had questions to answer, Mr. Davies
said.
Marikana has been shut since Aug. 10 as a result of a strike by
3,000 rock drillers which turned violent and has left a total of 44
dead, including 34 people killed when police fired live ammunition
into a crowd of strikers.
Any questions around what happened at Marikana must also address
mining companies' practices, said Mr. Davies, adding that this
would form part of the remit of the four-month commission of
inquiry appointed to investigate the tragedy.
While some mining companies have implemented social programs to
improve worker conditions and created share-ownership schemes for
lower-ranking employees, "some have not, and these will be a focus
of attention," Mr. Davies said.
At the heart of many of the strikes is frustration over living
conditions and wages, but another factor is the battle for
membership between the well-established National Union of Miners,
or NUM, and its emerging rival, the Association of Mineworkers and
Construction Union.
Gold Fields said its strike was resolved after the national
leadership of the NUM met with its members at the KDC mine to
resolve differences between them.
Write to Alexis Flynn at alexis.flynn@dowjones.com