South African Mine Fires 13,000 Workers

A South African mining company has sacked 13,000 workers after they staged an illegal walkout in a row over pay.

Impala Platinum, the world's second largest producer of the precious metal, has dismissed a total of 17,200 miners since the dispute began two weeks ago.

More than half of all the 30,000 people employed in the northwestern town of Rustenburg, where the mine is situated, have now been fired.

Operations at the mine ground to a halt after miners downed tools on Monday.

National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said they had walked out after some workers received an 18% salary increase, but others were excluded.

The workers had been given until Wednesday to return to work or face dismissal.

But the trade union said many of those dismissed were not on strike but prevented from reporting for work due to intimidation.

"Workers could simply not get to work safely," Mr Seshoka said.

Impala said the fired workers would be given the chance to reapply for their jobs, but it was not clear when the process would start.

Company spokeswoman Alice Lourens said: "We're still busy with the dismissal process."

She (SNP: ^SHEY - news) added that the strike was costing "in the region of 3,000 ounces of platinum a day".

Platinum's spot price has risen over 15% since the start of the year to over $1,600 an ounce. Impala's share price was down 2.4% on Thursday.