South Africa union delays gold strike, platinum strike still on

A South African union has delayed a gold sector strike planned for Thursday following a court ruling, but said it would press ahead with action in the platinum sector. Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, told AFP the gold strike was on hold "but platinum continues." His comments come after a labour court said it needed until January 30 to decide on an outright ban on the gold strike, while stating no action should take place in the interim. That meant any strikers defying the order would have been striking without pay and risking dismissal. "AMCU's proposed strike at certain AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony and Sibanye Gold mines has been suspended pending a judgment awaited on 30 January," the firms said in a statement. But as many as 80,000 workers in the platinum are still expected to down tools. Union workers are demanding a minimum monthly wage of $1,150 in the mining sector, compared to around $460 a month today. Producers describe those demands as "unaffordable and unrealistic." South Africa is the world's top producer of platinum and Africa's largest gold producer.