Sibanye-Stillwater

In 2012, what started as a peaceful protest resulted in a massacre. The Marikana massacre[15] was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 16 August 2012, during a wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, Rustenburg, North West province, South Africa. The violence started because of a history of antagonism and violence between the African National Congress-allied National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and its emerging rival, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). At the Marikana platinum mine, operated by Lonmin at Nkaneng near Rustenburg, 3,000 workers walked off the job on 10 August after Lonmin failed to meet with workers.[16] On 11 August, NUM leaders allegedly opened fire on striking NUM members who were marching to their offices.[17][18][19] The killing of two miners was reported in the South African media as a central reason for the breakdown in trust within the union amongst workers.[17][20] Despite earlier contradictory reports, the clashes on the 11th are now acknowledged to be the first incidents of violence during the strike.

According to the Bench Marks Foundation, the violence erupted against a backdrop of a lack of employment opportunities for local youth, squalid living conditions, unemployment and growing inequalities.[21] It claimed the workers were exploited and this was a motivation for the violence. It also criticised the high profits when compared with the low wages of the workers.

In 2014, a five-month-long platinum strike had resulted in the deaths of four people,[22] six stabbings,[23] and 24 billion rand ($2.25 billion) in lost revenue for the South African platinum industry. The GDP of South Africa contracted in the first quarter of 2014, pulled down by the steepest drop in mining production (25% of which 19% was directly attributable to the strike) in 50 years.[24][25] It was the first contraction since 2009.[26] Workers, most of whom already lived in poverty, lost around 11 billion rands ($1 billion) in wages.[27]

In January 2018, a power outage caused by poor weather resulted in nearly 1000 miners being trapped underground. This occurred at the Beatrix gold mine near Welkom, South Africa.[28] Some of the trapped miners were rescued the day of the incident, and the remaining 955 were rescued after around 30 hours when power was restored to one of the lifts.[29] The incident resulted in pressure from labour unions, including the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, for mine management to address safety concerns before it can reopen.[30]

In early 2018, 20 out of the 45 mining deaths in South Africa occurred at Sibanye Stillwater. Then Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, deplored the figure: “We are very worried about the fact that out of 45 fatalities thus far‚ 20 are from one company.”[31] Another death was reported a few weeks later.[32]

In 2019, a violent five-month strike resulted in nine deaths,[33] an estimated 62 houses burnt down,[34] and several wounded, which including burned children. The strike started as a dispute over wages but became the center of inter-union violence. Sibanye-Stillwater spokesperson James Wellsted said more than 500 mineworkers, which belonged to NUM and AMCU, and their families had to be evacuated because the situation was so unsafe.