JOHANNESBURG - Another 3,500 striking miners in South Africa have been sacked after they stopped work over wages, media reported on Saturday. Atlatsa Resources Corporation which is jointly owned by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world’s largest platinum producer, reportedly sacked most of its workforce. Workers at the firm’s Bokoni platinum operation, in the northern province of Limpopo, were fired after they failed to show up for a disciplinary hearing. The report came as hundreds of the 12,000 miners sacked earlier by Amplats gathered to protest their dismissal. The 12,000 worked at Rustenburg, 200 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg.
Bokoni executive director told the SAPA news agency that those who failed to attend the disciplinary hearing had been dismissed. The workers had been on strike over wages for nearly two weeks. Meanwhile, a sit-in at Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in the Northern Cape continued on Saturday. The workers are demanding a pay rise of up to 15,000 rand (1,705 dollars/ 1,308 euros). Around 100,000 workers, mainly in the mining sector are currently on strike over wages in South Africa. The wildcat stoppages have also spilled into the transport sector.