Amplats is a disgrace

The ANC Youth League is deeply disturbed and angered by the irrational and illogical firing of 12 000 workers by Anglo American Platinum (Amplat). This action demonstrates the insensibility and insensitivity of the company, the world's largest platinum producer, which has made astronomical profits on the blood, sweat and tears of the very same workers that today the company can just fire with impunity.

Amplats is a disgrace and a disappointment to the country at large, a representation of white monopoly capital out of touch and uncaring of the plight of the poor. Their action shows the highest level of disdain and spits on the graves of those who have lost their lives in the current mining climate. No doub today's ill-fated and unfortunate decision will undoubtedly and justifiably heighten the tensions in the country at large and the mining industry in particular. 

The African National Congress Youth League therefore pledges solidarity with the dismissed workers and calls upon all progressive forces to support the call for their immediate return. Everyday, the disdain with which white monopoly capital conducts itself against the rightful owners of these 
mineral resources, South Africans - the majority of whom are  black and poor, reaffirms the correctness of the ANC Policy Conference resolution for nationalization of mines and other strategic sectors of the economy.

Statement issued by the African National Congress Youth League, October 5 2012

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