Lonmin has given its striking miners one more day to return to work before it says it will follow through with its threat to sack them.
The London-listed company, which is still reeling from the deaths of 34 of its workers in the worst police violence since the end of apartheid, said 30% of its 28,000 strong workforce reported for duty on Monday.
Lonmin said it would give the striking workers until Tuesday to report for duty before dismissing them. "Those illegal strikers who did not return to work this morning will not be dismissed and have been allowed an extra day in light of the tragic events of last week," the company said in a statement.
Local media reports suggested most of the striking miners will continue to refuse to attend work. Miner Kaizer Madiba told the South African Times newspaper: "People have died already so we have nothing more to lose … We are going to continue fighting for what we believe is a legitimate fight for living wages. We would rather die like our comrades than back down."
A rock-driller told the Mail & Guardian: "It's better to die than to work for that shit … I am not going to stop striking. We are going to protest until we get what we want. They have said nothing to us. Police can try and kill us but we won't move."
Another miner, who asked to be only identified by his first name, Thulani, said: "You work so very hard for very little pay. It is almost like death."
The 3,000 striking rock drillers are demanding their wages be trebled from 4,000 rand (£306) a month to 12,500 rand a month. In comparison, Lonmin's chief executive Ian Farmer, who is currently seriously ill in hospital, collected pay and bonuses of £1.2m last year.
The deadline imposed by Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum miner, had been condemned by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). "It is too harsh of management to talk in this way," said its treasurer, Jimmy Gama, describing the ultimatum as "very unfair".
Mark Munroe, Lonmin's executive vice-president for mining, said: "What has happened here has been a tragedy, and the pain and anger it has led to will take time to heal.
"But those representing the vast majority of our workforce have been clear again in our discussions today that we need to try to return to some kind of normality as we go through that healing process."
Thirty-four striking miners were gunned down at the mine on Thursday when they stormed a police line. Ten other people, included two police officers, died in violence earlier last week. The incident has stunned South Africans and provoked comparisons with the brutality of apartheid-era security crackdowns.
President Jacob Zuma has announced a week of mourning after the tragedy, with flags flying at half mast all over South Africa, and set up a ministerial task team and judicial commission of inquiry.
Two hundred and fifty-nine strikers arrested in connection with the protests were set to appear in Rustenburg magistrates court on Monday facing charges including murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, public violence and malicious damage to property.
Lonmin's shares, which have fallen by more than a third so far this year, dropped by 4.5% to 610p on Monday. The company had been struggling before the strikes due to a collapse in the platinum price. Ironically, the violence has lead to 5.3% spike in the price to $1,470 an ounce in the past week – the biggest weekly gain since January.
Analysts at UBS warned that the unrest is "unlikely to be resolved swiftly, and will probably continue for the next six to eight weeks". They added that there is an "increasing likelihood of contagion, with market focus now shifting to Amplats [Anglo American Platinum, the world's top platinum producer]."
Deutsche Bank, which downgraded Lonmin from "hold" to "sell", said the crisis would cost Lonmin $74m in lost production. They said there was a "strong likelihood" that Lonmin will be forced to launch an emergency rights issue.
At the weekend, sources close to the company strongly played down the suggestion that Lonmin was considering tapping shareholders for an extra $1bn.
The London-listed company, which is still reeling from the deaths of 34 of its workers in the worst police violence since the end of apartheid, said 30% of its 28,000 strong workforce reported for duty on Monday.
Lonmin said it would give the striking workers until Tuesday to report for duty before dismissing them. "Those illegal strikers who did not return to work this morning will not be dismissed and have been allowed an extra day in light of the tragic events of last week," the company said in a statement.
Local media reports suggested most of the striking miners will continue to refuse to attend work. Miner Kaizer Madiba told the South African Times newspaper: "People have died already so we have nothing more to lose … We are going to continue fighting for what we believe is a legitimate fight for living wages. We would rather die like our comrades than back down."
A rock-driller told the Mail & Guardian: "It's better to die than to work for that shit … I am not going to stop striking. We are going to protest until we get what we want. They have said nothing to us. Police can try and kill us but we won't move."
Another miner, who asked to be only identified by his first name, Thulani, said: "You work so very hard for very little pay. It is almost like death."
The 3,000 striking rock drillers are demanding their wages be trebled from 4,000 rand (£306) a month to 12,500 rand a month. In comparison, Lonmin's chief executive Ian Farmer, who is currently seriously ill in hospital, collected pay and bonuses of £1.2m last year.
The deadline imposed by Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum miner, had been condemned by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). "It is too harsh of management to talk in this way," said its treasurer, Jimmy Gama, describing the ultimatum as "very unfair".
Mark Munroe, Lonmin's executive vice-president for mining, said: "What has happened here has been a tragedy, and the pain and anger it has led to will take time to heal.
"But those representing the vast majority of our workforce have been clear again in our discussions today that we need to try to return to some kind of normality as we go through that healing process."
Thirty-four striking miners were gunned down at the mine on Thursday when they stormed a police line. Ten other people, included two police officers, died in violence earlier last week. The incident has stunned South Africans and provoked comparisons with the brutality of apartheid-era security crackdowns.
President Jacob Zuma has announced a week of mourning after the tragedy, with flags flying at half mast all over South Africa, and set up a ministerial task team and judicial commission of inquiry.
Two hundred and fifty-nine strikers arrested in connection with the protests were set to appear in Rustenburg magistrates court on Monday facing charges including murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, public violence and malicious damage to property.
Lonmin's shares, which have fallen by more than a third so far this year, dropped by 4.5% to 610p on Monday. The company had been struggling before the strikes due to a collapse in the platinum price. Ironically, the violence has lead to 5.3% spike in the price to $1,470 an ounce in the past week – the biggest weekly gain since January.
Analysts at UBS warned that the unrest is "unlikely to be resolved swiftly, and will probably continue for the next six to eight weeks". They added that there is an "increasing likelihood of contagion, with market focus now shifting to Amplats [Anglo American Platinum, the world's top platinum producer]."
Deutsche Bank, which downgraded Lonmin from "hold" to "sell", said the crisis would cost Lonmin $74m in lost production. They said there was a "strong likelihood" that Lonmin will be forced to launch an emergency rights issue.
At the weekend, sources close to the company strongly played down the suggestion that Lonmin was considering tapping shareholders for an extra $1bn.
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