The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is a trade union for coal miners in Great Britain, formed in 1945 from the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). The NUM took part in three national miners' strikes, in 1972, 1974 and 1984–85. Following the 1984–85 strike, and the subsequent closure of most of Britain's coal mines, it became a much smaller union. It had around 170,000 members when Arthur Scargill became leader in 1981, a figure which had fallen in 2023 to an active membership of 82.
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is a South African businessman and politician who is the fifth and current president of South Africa. A former anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and businessman, Ramaphosa is also the president of the African National Congress (ANC).
Lonmin plc, formerly Lonrho plc, was a British producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its registered office was in London, and its operational headquarters were in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Anglo American Platinum Limited is the world's largest primary producer of platinum, accounting for about 38% of the world's annual supply.
The Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) is the largest layered igneous intrusion within the Earth's crust. It has been tilted and eroded forming the outcrops around what appears to be the edge of a great geological basin: the Transvaal Basin. It is approximately 2 billion years old and is divided into four different limbs: the northern, southern, eastern, and western limbs. The Bushveld Complex comprises the Rustenburg Layered suite, the Lebowa Granites and the Rooiberg Felsics, that are overlain by the Karoo sediments. The site was first publicised around 1897 by Gustaaf Molengraaff who found the native South African tribes residing in and around the area.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is a mainly mining industry related trade union, an organisation of workers with common goals through organised labour, in South Africa. With a membership of 300,000 as of 2014, it is the largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).
Mining in South Africa was once the main driving force behind the history and development of Africa's most advanced and richest economy. Large-scale and profitable mining started with the discovery of a diamond on the banks of the Orange River in 1867 by Erasmus Jacobs and the subsequent discovery of the Kimberley pipes a few years later. Gold rushes to Pilgrim's Rest and Barberton were precursors to the biggest discovery of all, the Main Reef/Main Reef Leader on Gerhardus Oosthuizen's farm Langlaagte, Portion C, in 1886, the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the subsequent rapid development of the gold field there, the biggest of them all.
Emmanuel Nkosinathi "Nathi" Mthethwa is a South African politician who served as Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture from 2019 until his demotion from cabinet in 2023. He had previously served as the Chief Whip for the African National Congress in the National Assembly in 2008, as Minister for Safety and Security from 2008 to 2014, and as Minister of Arts and Culture from 2014 to 2019. He is from Kwambonambi, KwaZulu-Natal.
The SouthAfrican Mine Workers' Strike was a labour dispute involving mine workers of Witwatersrand in South Africa. It started on 12 August 1946 and lasted approximately a week. The strike was attacked by police and over the week, at least 1,248 workers were wounded and at least 9 killed.
Susan Shabangu is a South African politician who has been a member of parliament representing the African National Congress since May 1994. She previously held the position of Minister of Social Development. Prior to that, she served as the inaugural Minister of Women in the Presidency, created by President Jacob Zuma in May 2014. She was the Minister of Mineral Resources from 2009 to 2014.
Impala Platinum Holdings Limited or Implats is a South African holding company that owns several companies which operate mines that produce platinum and platinum group metals, as well as nickel, copper and cobalt. Its most significant mine is the Impala mine in the North West province of South Africa. The company also owns or has interest in the Two Rivers mine and the Marula mine in the South Africa Bushveld Igneous Complex and the Mimosa mine and Zimplats in Zimbabwe, as well as the Impala Refining Services which smelts and refines metals for other companies. In December 2019, Impala Canada was formed, owned by the holding company, out of the acquisition of North American Palladium and its mine in Ontario, Canada.
The Constitution of South Africa protects all basic political freedoms. However, there have been many incidents of political repression, dating back to at least 2002, as well as threats of future repression in violation of this constitution leading some analysts, civil society organisations and popular movements to conclude that there is a new climate of political repression or a decline in political tolerance.
The Marikana massacre was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 16 August 2012 during a six-week wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg in South Africa's North West province. The massacre constituted the most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since the Soweto uprising in 1976 and has been compared to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre.
The Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) is a Marxist and Trotskyist political party in South Africa affiliated to International Socialist Alternative.
Marikana is a town near Rustenburg, North West Province, South Africa.
Joseph Mathunjwa is the head of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).
On 15 November 2014 workers at South Africa's major platinum producers – Anglo American Platinum, Impala Platinum, and Lonmin – went on strike demanding that wages be immediately doubled. However, after five months of striking they settled for a more modest pay increase spread over three years. It was the longest and most expensive strike in South African history.
Senzeni Zokwana is a South African politician. He is a former Member of Parliament and served until May 2019 as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, having been appointed by President Jacob Zuma in May 2014. He previously served as the President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
Sibanye-Stillwater is a multinational mining and metals processing Group with a diverse portfolio of mining and processing operations and projects and investments across five continents. The Group is also one of the foremost global PGM auto catalytic recyclers and has interests in leading mine tailings retreatment operations.
Msokoli Frans Baleni is a South African businessman and former trade unionist who was general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers between 2006 and 2015. Since 2007, he has been a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party.
