AMCU expresses concern over South Africa’s proposed transition from coal-based resources
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has expressed concern over the “potential for unfairness” following the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa of a partnership agreement with France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union, committing to provide about R131-billion in finance to help South Africa achieve a just energy transition.
The transition will result in South Africa reducing its reliance on coal-fired power generation, while also helping to lower the country’s carbon emissions.
In a statement on November 9, AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa said that, considering that these developed countries are already industrialised, built on coal-based energy resources and “exploitative working conditions” of mineworkers, there is the potential for unfairness as South Africa is still a developing country, and therefore still in the process of industrialising.
He maintained that the country’s transition must be just, and that it will require “full commitment to the immediate socioeconomic needs of those workers who are directly and indirectly employed by the coal industry, as well as the communities they feed and the local economies they support”.
For this reason, Mathunjwa, on behalf of AMCU, issued an open letter to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, wherein it requested the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to “urgently convene a tripartite summit on ensuring a just transition from coal to cleaner energy sources”.
Mathunjwa said the summit should be attended by organised labour, organised business, as well as the respective government departments.
“The core focus of the summit should be on how we, as social partners, can co-construct a strategy to ensure that the affected workers and communities are cared for in a sustainable manner, and to commit to a just transition.”
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