De Beers, the world’s leading diamond producer, on Thursday afternoon signed a five-year wage deal with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) that has been hailed as bringing stability in the diamond sector.
The company, which is part of the Anglo American group, joins Impala Platinum (Implats) and Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) which signed five-year wage agreement with unions in 2022.
The wage deal signed by De Beers and NUM on Thursday afternoon will see employees in the bargaining unit at Venetia Mine and De Beers Sightholder Sales SA, receiving an increase of 7% in 2023 and 6% in the subsequent years until April 30 2028.
Inflation as measured by the consumer price index accelerated to 5.4% annually in September, up from 4.8% in August.
The historic deal takes the minimum basic wage at entry level, excluding allowances for shifts and housing, to R17,630 per month.
“The agreement also allows for participation in the Employee Share Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and will see De Beers’ employees in SA taking part in Anglo American’s current South African ESOP from 2023 to 2025,” the company, which has mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and SA, said in a statement.
The wage talks began in March, with NUM demanding a pay hike of 9% while De Beers offered 6%. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration facilitated the talks when negotiations deadlocked.
De Beers Group Managed Operations MD Moses Madondo said: “We are pleased that we reached a favourable outcome following a very tough negotiation process against the backdrop of challenging market conditions that continue to have an adverse impact on our business and the overall diamond industry.
“The agreement provides a measure of certainty to our employees for the next five years as we focus on ramping up the underground mine at Venetia, which is set to extend the life of the mine to at least 2046.”
NUM president Dan Balepile said: “We are quite happy with the wage agreement. It was a long process, the negotiations started in March until now. Our members gave us a mandate to sign this week. We are happy with the agreement, it is going to bring stability in the diamond industry for the next five years.”
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