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Labor unrest continues to rattle mining industry in South Africa
Striking workers paralysed a gold mine in South Africa Monday, fueling fears that mounting discontent could spread to the entire mining sector and grip the country for months.
Demanding the removal of their local union leadership and asking for tax-free bonuses, 15,000 Gold Fields workers downed tools at its KDC mine west of Johannesburg.
The industrial action, which comes exactly a month after a strike was launched at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine, is the latest to hit South Africa’s vital mining sector.
Mining accounts for a fifth of gross domestic product (GDP) but the sector, which has become a symbol of the the huge economic and social discrepancies that continue to plague post-apartheid South Africa, is also a major political battleground.
The Gold Fields strike started off when the night shift did not report for work on Sunday.
“They are demanding the removal of National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) branch leadership,” Gold Fields spokesman Sven Lunsche told repoters, referring to the large union allied to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party.
“There is also a demand to lower tax on wages.”
