* Kumba Iron Ore says 300 employees involved, limited effect
* Gold producer Harmony reports illegal strike at mine
* Spread of labour unrest ups pressure on Zuma government
* Action rattles investors in Africa’s largest economy
By Ed Stoddard and Agnieszka Flak
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 3 (Reuters) – A series of wildcat miners’
strikes in South Africa spread to a new sector, iron ore, on
Wednesday and hit another gold firm in an escalation of the
labour unrest that is testing President Jacob Zuma’s leadership.
The industrial action at Kumba Iron Ore, a unit of
global miner Anglo American, further dented investor
confidence in the continent’s wealthiest economy as it showed
the protests had moved beyond platinum and gold mines.
Workers at the Kusasalethu mine near Johannesburg, operated
by South Africa’s No. 3 bullion producer Harmony Gold,
also downed tools in what management called an “unlawful” action
launched outside the normal collective bargaining channels.
Zuma is under fire for failing to address and contain the
workers’ protests demanding wage increases, which stem in large
part from glaring wealth inequalities persisting in South Africa
since the end of apartheid in 1994.
Continued…
