At three mines, after news of job cuts

Anglo American Platinum said on Wednesday workers at three of its South African mines had gone on an illegal strike, the day after the world’s top producer of the precious metal announced plans to close shafts and cut 14,000 jobs.

“Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) confirms that a group of its employees at its Khomanani, Thembelani and Tumela mines have refused to go underground this morning and are engaged in an illegal work stoppage,” Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said.

South Africa sits on about 80% of the known reserves of platinum, used to build emissions-capping catalytic converters in automobiles, but weak demand has depressed the price.

A fresh wave of strike action could be crippling to an industry battling with soaring wage and power costs and ageing mines that are the deepest in the world. It would also further erode investor confidence in Africa’s largest economy. The South African rand weakened against the dollar and investors pushed bonds lower on Wednesday because of the brewing labour unrest.

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