Hon Speaker and hon members, the first step we took was to meet with key stakeholders in the mining sector to agree on a course of action to stabilise the sector. We then established the mining forum, comprising of organised labour, business and government. Labour is represented by trade union federations Congress of SA Trade Unions, Cosatu; Federation of Unions of SA, Fedusa; and National Council of Trade Unions, Nactu; and trade unions such as the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, Amcu; the National Union of Mineworkers, NUM; the Media Workers Association of South Africa, Mwasa; and Solidarity. Business is represented by the Chamber of Mines and the SA Mining Development Association.
On 03 July 2013, the parties signed the framework agreement for sustainable mining and identified both the short-term and medium to long-term measures required to stabilise the mining sector. In ensuring the rule of law, peace and stability and the provision of proper and sustainable human settlement infrastructure in the Rustenburg platinum belt, we identified some of the priority short-term measures requiring immediate attention. Much progress has been made in implementing some of these short-term measures. Our observation is that all parties have fulfilled their commitments to ensure peace and stability within the mines. Both mining companies and workers have since the signing of the framework agreement conducted their affairs within the ambit of the law.
The Mine Crime Combating Forum was launched in August 2013, and trade unions and mining companies are co-operating with the SA Police Service to maintain peace and stability in the mines and surrounding communities. Government has also taken steps to improve the processing of all cases emanating from the mining sector. The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development has annexed the magisterial districts of Brits, Mankweng and Rustenburg to the Bafokeng Magisterial District in order to create capacity and accelerate the hearing of cases emanating from the mines in those affected areas.
Both government and business have committed financial resources and land to ensure the provision of proper sustainable human settlement infrastructure in the area. A technical team is working with the local municipality to determine the full scope of the project. The Chamber of Mines reported recently that mining companies continue to implement various projects to transform the old hostels into decent living accommodation. We continue to monitor progress in this regard in the context of the Mining Charter commitments.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, CCMA, is also conducting a series of training programmes in the mines to educate union members on best labour relations practice and workplace relations. The Chamber of Mines has established a task team on employee indebtedness, or a debt trap. Amongst other interventions, they are conducting financial literacy classes and have taken steps to shut down illegal micro lenders. We are confident that the ongoing work will ultimately address this challenge in the medium term.
Medium to long-term measures include reviewing the migrant labour system, annual assessment of the implementation of the Mining Charter and the reskilling of workers to achieve competitiveness and sustainable growth of the mining sector. This is all work in progress.
The Chamber of Mines has initiated processes with the further education and training, FET, colleges to provide training to mineworkers with a view to improving their skills level, thus helping to enhance the portability of their skills within and beyond the mining sector.
At the last meeting of the Mining Forum, both the Chamber of Mines and the SA Mining Development Association reported that they had initiated processes to improve the migrant labour system in a way that will afford mineworkers more time with their families. Government is part of this process of reviewing the migrant labour system which, in our view, will address, in the long term, some of the social challenges brought about by this system. The efforts of this forum have once again confirmed that as South Africans we are capable of addressing complex challenges through dialogue.
Finally, I am sure that members will agree that in spite of the occasional flare-ups, the situation in Marikana, in particular, and the platinum belt, in general, is much calmer and less characterised by violent crimes and murder. However, we cannot be complacent, and the situation is therefore continuously being monitored through engagements with all stakeholders. I thank you for your attention. [Applause.]
Hon Speaker, in the light of the detailed explanation that the hon Deputy President has given us, and which we are grateful for, how then are we assured of Amcu's commitment in this regard in that we cannot afford further instability in the mining sector? How could we be assured that in terms of investor interest there will be improvement? Also, how will the Deputy President ensure that Amcu will not withdraw from the agreements that have been made with the relevant stakeholders? Thank you.
Hon the Deputy President, as you rise to respond, can I just remind you that two minutes is allocated to each reply to a supplementary question.
Hon Speaker, I thought that since this is my maiden speech I should be afforded a little bit more time, sir. [Laughter.]
Even maidens are allocated two minutes.
Hon Speaker, clearly I was mistaken.
Amcu was part of the processes of crafting the agreement, but have failed to append signatures to the agreement simply because by that time it had not yet established structures. Now that it has attained recognition status in a number of platinum mining companies, we have actually said to it that it needs to append signatures to the agreement. It has undertaken to go back to the structures to get a mandate and then come back to sign the agreement. Amcu has publicly stated that it is fully committed to the agreement as a framework for addressing the challenges of violence in the industry. Thank you.
Mr Speaker, I have to say that on the other side of the House we were not too impressed by the Deputy President's efforts in this regard. We are hearing lots of talk but really not seeing much result. When the framework agreement was announced some eight months ago, we were told that the intention was to ensure a peaceful wage bargaining season and to restore investor confidence.
Since then, we have had clashes between mineworkers and police, between mineworkers and mine security and between members of different unions. We have had a nonstriking miner attacked, beaten and set alight. And just this Monday, we had an NUM union member at the Union Mine badly beaten, his head severely damaged and his ribs and arms broken. There is not much on the peace side - even less on the investor - side where we just came from an 11- week strike at Northam Platinum. We now have 80 000 platinum miners who are approaching their sixth week on strike. In the face of all these, how could the Deputy President claim that his efforts have been successful?
Hon Lorimer, yes, indeed, in terms of de-escalating the conflicts in the industry, this process has, in fact, achieved the required results. We take the view that the best deterrent against acts of violence is the knowledge that people will be arrested, and they are being arrested. In the two cases you have mentioned, the perpetrators have been arrested and they are facing charges. That's why you don't see ... As you've correctly pointed out, there was a strike at Northam Platinum that lasted for 11 weeks. It was peaceful throughout those weeks, there were no acts of violence.
Currently, we have a strike that is going into its sixth week involving Amcu in the platinum sector. Of course, they had declared a dispute without negotiating. We met with the CEOs of the companies, Amcu and their federation and persuaded them to get back to the negotiating table; hence, you read about these negotiations. Amcu indicated only yesterday, and the day before, that it has now revised its demands. Initially, when they declared a deadlock they did not make any move whatsoever. They regarded their letter of demand as a settlement position. So, we had to persuade them offline to get back to the negotiating table.
I would say that the process has attained its immediate aim. The short-term aim was really to ensure that no actions in the industry are accompanied by violence, because the right to strike is enshrined in the Constitution of the country. This process was, of course, never meant to facilitate negotiations. There are agencies that do that. When my colleague the Minister of Labour and I met with both parties, we offered our services as facilitators should they need it, but they were content to go the CCMA route. That's where the matter is.
We do speak to investors on an ongoing basis. Investors in the mining industry take a long-term view. They are not like speculators. They know that the right to strike and the right to lock-out are both part of the legislative framework. They are not alarmed or put off by the fact that these workers go out on strike. What is important to them ... [Time expired.]
Hon Speaker and hon the Deputy President, Standard & Poor's is the most important agency as far as the mining sector is concerned in the world. They have recently warned to downgrade us if business confidence weakens, labour disputes escalate and production costs goes up due to the weakening of the currency. What they want to see is an improvement and efficiency in the public sector.
Hon Deputy President, we had an average of 32 public unrests per day across all provinces in South Africa. Are you not concerned that this would escalate during the elections and force Standard & Poor's to take a negative decision on us?
That's a separate question altogether, because you are alluding to the public sector.
The rating agencies, of course, take the totality of these issues into account. The question dealt specifically with the mining sector, and that is where I am directly involved.
I can perhaps take this opportunity to complete the answer that I meant to give to the hon Lorimer. Once we have gone through this period of disputes, we are going to sit down with all stakeholders in the industry to develop the sector-specific development plan flowing from the National Development Plan. This is because the industry as a whole needs that kind of plan if we are to revive and put it on a higher plane, since resources are available and companies are willing to come to the party with regard to a specific sector plan to ensure that all these concerns are addressed. But that is not something that you achieve by simply having one or two meetings. You have to work through it patiently. And we think we will be able to achieve stability and improved productivity in the industry. Thank you.
Mr Speaker and Mr Deputy President, I have listened carefully to your answers, but there are still very important areas of uncertainty. To name but one: What steps will be taken to ensure that unions do not continue to hold the economy to ransom during salary negotiations?
As I said, hon Van der Merwe, the area of collective bargaining is a right. The parties have the right to angle for the best advantages in the process. Our role really is to remind them that if labour makes demands which would result in the introduction of new machines which replace workers, the unions will shrink and they will have no future, and also to remind the employers that labour is important to raise productivity levels. Therefore, during the course of that bargaining they should be able to find each other and find amicable settlements to satisfy the demands as well as the expectations of investors, employers and workers. Thank you.
Hon Speaker, following the reply of hon the Deputy President, we have recently seen the emergence of another new union in the mining sector, which looks like a breakaway from Amcu. Are you concerned about whether that particular union should be engaged early in the process?
You would remember that there was a debate about whether Amcu, in its formation, needed to be engaged to stabilise the industry. Are you concerned that that particular breakaway union that has now happened may create further instability? If it is so, what would be your take in engaging with that particular union fairly and early in the process? Thank you.
Hon Speaker, as soon as the union is registered with the Department of Labour we will engage with it. We will try to ensure that they play within the confines of the rules and the laws. We have absolutely no difficulty in engaging with them, because it is the same industry and we are obliged to deal with them. Thank you.