Gold sector in South Africa facing wage hike demands

The demands signal discontent has also spread to the gold sector and underline growing rank-and-file anger with the NUM leadership as they came from the shafts and not the union’s head office in Johannesburg.

AMCU has managed to recruit from among platinum producers by tapping a deepening vein of dissatisfaction with NUM’s leaders who are seen as out of touch.

Wage hikes that have been racing ahead of inflation have added to a litany of costs eating into the margins of South African miners. But on the bottom of the wage scale workers with several dependents earn as little as 4,000 rand (US$ 474) a month.

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