South Africa's gold miners begin strike over pay

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14324063

Almost 100,000 gold miners have begun an indefinite strike in South Africa calling for a 14% salary increase.

The stoppage could cost the gold mining sector $25m (£15m) a day in lost output, economists say.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) told the BBC it would affect all the top gold producers who are only offering between 7% and 9% pay rises.
The coal and petrol sectors have also been hit by strikes leading to fuel shortages in the last three weeks.
The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in the commercial capital, Johannesburg, says this time of the year is known as South Africa's "strike season".
Most unions are demanding salary increases twice that of inflation - which currently stands at 5%.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Our members work under dangerous conditions... yet they have nothing to show for it”

End Quote Lesiba Seshoka NUM spokesperson

They argue that any reasonable increase in wages needs to be 11% to counteract price hikes in food, water, electricity and petrol over the past year.

NUM spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said workers would down tools indefintely from the start of the night shift on Thursday at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT) in all gold mines, including AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold.
"Our members work under dangerous conditions in the mines daily and yet they have nothing to show for it," Mr Seshoka told the BBC.
The average mine worker earns 3,800 South African rand ($570; £346) each month, according to NUM.
For decades gold mining was the backbone of South Africa's economy, but gold output has decreased in recent years.
Until 2007 the country was the world's largest gold producer, now it is fourth.
The decline has been attributed partly to an increase in labour costs.
According to the most recent World Economic Forum report on Global Competitiveness, South Africa had the eighth-highest level of industrial conflict of out of 139 countries.
A public sector strike over pay paralysed schools and hospitals for more than a month last year.

Griffiths goes for gold - again

Mike Foster

21 Jul 2011

Back in mid-May, the price of gold, at $1.490 an ounce, was looking soggy. But poor sentiment didn’t put Robin Griffiths of Cazenove Capital off the yellow metal. On the contrary, he decided the traditional summer lull would come to an end early – by June 29, to be precise.

Following a 0.68% rise to $1.510 that day, we waited three weeks to see whether Griffiths had got it right. And the subsequent rise in the price of gold to $1,600 saw him pass the test with flying colours.

Griffiths is renowned as a technical analyst, extrapolating probable futures from charts of price trends, while taking account of seasonal factors and key fundamentals. He now thinks gold will track higher during the summer towards $1,650 or $1,700.

In the autumn, things will get interesting. He said: “It is my belief that gold will go ballistic at that point. You get that time and again, when you get a breakout.”

According to a chart published by advisory firm Institutional Investors, attached, it wouldn’t be hard to get the price to $2,155 in short order. Griffiths wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit $3,000, or $5,000 in inflation adjusted terms, by 2015.

But Griffiths goes further – as he often does. He takes the view the market will become increasingly nervous of the debasing of currencies being pushed through by governments desperate to restore sentiment to the debt market.

He believes the consumer price index is beloved by politicians because it understates inflation: “A fall in the price of the latest iPad was deemed worthy of inclusion in the index, helping to offset a rise in food prices. But, as far as I am aware, you can’t eat an iPad.” He believes that investors in India and China are increasingly likely to hedge their bets with gold.

To underline the case for the safe haven, Griffiths argues the technical position for Western markets is deteriorating fast. The French CAC 40 index is leading the way down with short term sentiment, indicated by the 50-day moving average, deteriorating faster than the 200-day average. Griffiths warns the UK, US and German indices are likely to follow in short order.

It's being so happy that keeps him going.

http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2011-07-21/robin-griffiths-is-a-gold-bull-and-equity-bear