EFFORTS to end a rash of gold mine strikes that have strangled South African production have run into deadlock with no further talks planned, leaving tens of thousands of workers facing the threat of dismissal.
Mine owners and union officials reported on Monday that last-gasp talks to end weeks of rolling wildcat strikes had failed, after rank-and-file workers rejected a wage deal reached by negotiators and no further proposal was forthcoming.
After the talks broke down, employer group the Chamber of Mines declared "it is not in a position to make any further proposals", leaving it up to individual companies to find their own way out of a crisis that has seen tens of thousands of workers illegally down tools.
"One of the avenues could be the dismissal of strikers," chamber official Elize Strydom said. Another route, she said, was "retrenchment" or a radical restructuring of mine operations.
"Some companies - marginal companies in particular - have been closed and not producing for so long that they now probably need to be closed."
Tens of thousands of gold workers have been on strike for more than a month in South Africa's mines, most of them located near the commercial hub of Johannesburg.
The often violent strikes over pay have strangled production in the country, which accounts for around seven per cent of global output.
The National Union of Mineworkers told owners: "Dismissals would not be a solution to the current challenges facing the industry and that it would only serve to fuel emotions that are already high and inflame the situation further."
Workers indicated last week they could not support the wage deal, saying it was not up to their demand for salaries of roughly 12,500 rand ($A1400) a month.
The latest offer would have seen monthly wages and bonuses go up to between 7000 and 10,000 rand.
There are growing fears about the impact the labour unrest will have on the South African economy, the biggest and most advanced on the continent.
The mining industry as a whole accounts directly and indirectly for 19 per cent of economic output and employs 1.3 million people in the mines and related sectors.
Already the platinum sector, which has suffered a wave of strikes since August, saw a 2.6 per cent drop in output that month. The toll for the gold sector and for the broader economy has yet to be quantified.
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