The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) warned on Monday of riots as it launched a protest campaign against soaring food prices. Rice prices on world markets have climbed about 75% in just two months, and the cost of wheat has rocketed by 120% in the past year. The price of maize has more than doubled since the beginning of 2006.
Two Eskom electricity-generating units were restored on Tuesday and two more should be back on line in the evening, removing any immediate threat of power cuts to mines, Eskom said. In January, power shortages forced gold and platinum mines to shut down for five days.
Power may have to be cut to South Africa’s vital gold and platinum mines if more generators fail because of bad weather, Eskom said on Tuesday, sending local mining shares tumbling. ”At the moment we are in a very tight situation,” said Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger.
South Africa released a long-awaited final draft of a mining charter on Wednesday, which said 26% of the country’s mining assets must be owned by black businesses within 10 years.
The latest draft of a charter to reform South Africa’s mining industry sees some R100-billion worth of assets being redistributed to blacks in five to 10 years time, a mining website reported.
South Africa’s big mining companies are likely to know next month how they should implement a new charter that aims to give blacks a bigger stake in the white-owned industry, a key negotiator said on Tuesday.
