EFF's Malema says mineworkers should earn a minimum monthly salary of R17,500

JOHANNESBURG - The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said mineworkers should be paid a minimum salary of R17,500 a month.

The party commemorated Workers' Day at the Temba Stadium in Hammanskraal on Wednesday.

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EFF leader Julius Malema said this minimum salary would be the only way miners could share in the country’s mineral wealth.

“We are going to share the wealth of South Africa. The people of the mines risk their lives going underground, not even sure when they will return.

“They dig out the gold, they take out the manganese, but if you look at their salaries, nothing speaks to what they are working for. So, we want mineworkers’ salary to be like the gold they produce.”

In 2023, a total of 52 mineworkers died in work-related incidents, one of the highest figures in post-apartheid South Africa.