NUM is demanding a 60% wage increase for its members while Gold mining companies have offered 6%.(REUTERS)
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GoldNational Union of MineworkersNUMFrans BaleniAngloGold AshantiGold Fields
Gold mining companies are adamant that they cannot afford the pay increases that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is demanding.
On Saturday, the union gave the companies 7 days to meet its demand for pay rises of up to 60% or face strike action. The companies' latest offer is 6%.
The NUM walked out of deadlocked wage talks with the companies on Wednesday, setting the scene for a gold industry shutdown.
The union has accused employers' of communicating in bad faith.
NUM general-secretary, Frans Baleni has appealed to employers' to adhere to the union's demands.
''With regard to construction, we are starting with a strike on Monday. They will have 7 days to consider our demand and present us with their offer to end the strike. We have got a certificate of unresolved dispute and we can give them 48 hours at any given time,” says Baleni.
He says that they are going to give companies a week to consider the NUM’s offer to prevent further striking.
A stoppage would hit major producers such as AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony.
South Africa's gold industry, which once accounted for almost 80% of global bullion output, is in a state of steep decline and the country now produces just 6% of the world total.
South Africa's economy is already losing more than R600 million a day to a week-old strike in its auto sector.