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 African crane operator Zoliswa Gila rises high above the pervasive chauvinistic view that her job should be reserved for members of the male sex. ”Most people think I am crazy to do the job I am doing, saying it’s only for men,” the 31-year-old said at Green Point in Cape Town where she is helping build a 68 000-seater stadium.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) launched a one-day strike on Tuesday to protest against deaths in the country’s mines, disrupting operations across the world’s top producer of platinum and gold. Almost a quarter of a million union members were set to down tools in the first industry-wide strike on safety, as the death toll mounted to about 200.
