* AMCU is at the heart of debate on violent labour relations
* Breakaway union takes aim at “elitist” ANC-allied NUM
* AMCU leaders profess religion, reject violence charges
By Ed Stoddard and Sherilee Lakmidas
RUSTENBURG, South Africa, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Its leaders
call themselves devout Christians and say life is sacred. But
its supporters march with spears, machetes and clubs and anoint
themselves with magic potions to ward off police bullets.
By taking on South Africa’s powerful mining houses and the
politically-connected NUM mineworkers’ union, breakaway union
AMCU has put itself at the heart of national soul-searching
after Thursday’s police shooting of 34 striking platinum miners
at a mine northwest of Johannesburg.
Since the start of this year, the AMCU (Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union) has been muscling in to grab
members from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in a bitter
turf war that has triggered violence at several mines and shaken
the industry.
While critics, which include mine executives and the NUM,
accuse it of using strong-arm tactics to recruit members and
press labour claims with illegal strikes, AMCU’s leaders wage
their campaign in the name of Jesus Christ and racial justice in
one of the most unequal societies in the world.
“Our Constitution favours whites … We are strangers in our
land,” reads a sign at the AMCU office at an Impala Platinum
mine near Rustenburg, west of Johannesburg. An AMCU
recruitment offensive led to violence this year at the world’s
largest platinum mine, which is run by Implats.
Continued…
