The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) is seeking a monthly wage of R12 500 for workers currently earning about R6 000 a month and has already submitted its demands to the gold mining companies.

The union’s president, Joseph Mathunjwa, last week lambasted South Africa’s bullion producers for not significantly improving the lives of workers and instead seeking to optimise their operations by retrenching workers, while increasing payouts to their management teams.

“For example, AngloGold Ashanti increased payments to its executive management team, including gains on share schemes, by 155%, from R83.7-million in 2008 to R213-million in 2014.

“This came at the same time as the company’s gold production declined by 20.8% during the . . . period,” he stated.

Mathunjwa further asserted that nonexecutive directors at AngloGold Ashanti were also “richly rewarded”, with their remuneration increasing from R5.8-million in 2008 to R18.5-million in 2014.

At Harmony Gold, which he pointed out had most of its operations in South Africa, Mathunjwa said, the total pay package for its executive management and nonexecutive directors, excluding gains from share options, increased from R12.7-million in 2008 to R21.8-million in 2014.

“However, during the same period, Harmony Gold’s output declined by 18% to 1.2-million ounces a year,” he stated.

Mathunjwa said Harmony Gold nonexecutive chairperson Patrice Motsepe received a pay increase of 40% over the past five years to R883 000.

Further, the union leader noted that, while inflation-based salary increases, ranging from 7.5% to 8%, had been granted to lower-level employees every year, the increases had been insufficient to bridge the gap between the salaries of workers and management.

“Hence, we aim to abolish the apartheid system of paying low wages to workers,” he emphasised.

Moreover, Mathunjwa highlighted that South Africa had experienced many gold market price booms, but these had never translated into improved pay packages for low-paid mineworkers.

“We are perturbed by the fact that even though South Africa experienced the 2012 mining uprising, which resulted in the massacre on August 16, 2012, no lessons were learnt by the mine bosses to change their hearts and minds. “Mining companies have not shown that they are willing to endeavour to address these challenges.”

He said all mining bosses were still in denial and pretended that all was well and shifted the blame to labour, claiming that workers were unrealistic and unreasonable.

“However, nobody is prepared to answer the question: For how long should workers remain realistic and reasonable while living in abject poverty?” Mathunjwa said.