Jean-Jacques Cornish

AMCU says platinum miners strike continues

The miners’union AMCU vows to continue its 16-week strike in South Africa’s platinum sector as an undisclosed number of its members went back underground yesterday (Wednesday)

The strike-breakers were meeting a deadline by Lonmin for their employers to end their marathon action that’s cost them an estimated 53 million euros in lost wages.

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The miners strike has cost the owners at least 100 million euros.

They say their final offer is a ten percent pay hike

Using text messages, Lonmin polled its workers and found sixty percent want to get back underground.

President of the militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union Joseph Mathunjwa insists the strike is still on and will continue until workers are paid 800 euros a month.

He urges thousands of club wielding strikers to remain steadfast.

They’d gathered at a stadium near the Lonmin operations at Marikana, where 34 strikers were shot dead by police in August 2012.

Armoured police vehicles patrolled the area and a police helicopter circled overhead.

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa was among senior government and police officials who visited the area.

Mthethwa says they won’t tolerate any intimidation of miners wanting to return to work.

Police have the names of those instigating violence and will crack down on them shortly.

Anarchy won’t be allowed whether disguised as industrial action or not.

 

 

 

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Jean-Jacques Cornish is a journalist and broadcaster who has been involved in the media all his adult life.

Starting as a reporter on his hometown newspaper, he moved briefly to then Rhodesia before returning to South Africa to become a parliamentary correspondent with the South African Press Association. He was sent to London as Sapa’s London editor and also served as special correspondent to the United Nations. He joined the then Argus group in London as political correspondent.

Returning to South Africa after 12 years abroad, he was assistant editor on the Pretoria News for a decade before becoming editor of the Star and SA Times for five years.

Since 1999 he’s been an independent journalist writing and broadcasting – mainly about Africa – for Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape
Talk, Radio France International, PressTV, Radio Live New Zealand, Business Day, Mail & Guardian, the BBC, Agence France Press,
Business in Africa, Leadership, India Today, the South African Institute for International Affairs and the Institute for Security Studies.

He has hosted current affairs talk shows on Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape Talk. He appears as an African affairs pundit on SABC Africa and CNBC Africa.
He lectured in contemporary studies to journalism students at the Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Pretoria.

He speaks on African affairs to corporate and other audiences.
He has been officially invited as a journalist to more than 30 countries. He was the winner of the 2007 SADC award for radio journalism.

He’s been a member of the EISA team observing elections in Somaliland, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Egypt and Tunsiai.

In October 2009 he headed a group of 39 African journalists to the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Peoples’ Republic of China.

In January 2010 he joined a rescue and paramedical team to earthquake struck Haiti.

He is immediate past president of the Alliance Francaise of Pretoria.

Jean-Jacques is a director of Giant Media. The company was given access to Nelson Mandela in his retirement years until 2009.
He is co-producer of the hour-long documentary Mandela at 90 that was broadcast on BBC in January 2009.