Sibanye Says Court Ruling Clears Path to Resolving Gold Strike

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sibanye Gold Ltd. said a South African court ruling that it can extend a wage agreement reached with three unions to a fourth could pave the way to ending a strike by thousands of workers at its gold mines.

Should a verification exercise determine that those three unions — the National Union of Mineworkers, UASA and Solidarity — together account for more than 50 percent of the company’s gold-mining workforce, then members of Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union would be obliged to accept the same wage deal, Sibanye spokesman James Wellsted said. That would render the strike by AMCU members, which started on Nov. 21 after the union rejected the company’s pay offer, illegal, he said.

The judgement “provides a clear path forward to resolving the ongoing strike,” Sibanye Chief Executive Officer Neal Froneman said Wednesday in a statement. “We urge AMCU to respect the ruling.”

Sibanye gained as much as 8.8 percent in Johannesburg trading, after climbing 8.5 percent on Tuesday. The stock has jumped 73 percent this year, making it one of the best performers on the FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index.

A challenge by AMCU to block Sibanye’s plans to cut more than 6,000 jobs at the three gold mines was rejected by a court last week. At least nine people have died in violence related to the strike, which has curbed the company’s output of gold.

Source: Bloomberg Business News