The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) was formed in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, in 1998 as a breakaway faction of the

COSATU The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU or Cosatu) is a trade union federation in South Africa. It was founded in 1985 and is the largest of the country's three main trade union federations, with 21 affiliated trade unions.One Union ...

-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). It was formally registered as a union in 2001. According to

Mining Weekly ''Mining Weekly'' is a weekly South African trade magazine covering the Mining#Industry, mining industry across Africa. History and profile ''Mining Weekly'' was first published in 1995 by Creamer Media, an independent Published media, publish ...

, the union sees itself as distinct from NUM in that it is "apolitical and noncommunist". Competition with NUM over bargaining rights, especially at the Impala Platinum and

Lonmin Lonmin plc, formerly Lonrho plc, was a British producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its registered office was in London, and its operational headquarters ...

mines in the

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a town at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West (South African province), North West province, South Africa (549 ...

area culminated in the violent Marikana miners' strike and what became known as the Marikana Massacre on 16 August 2012, in which police shot and killed over 30 strikers. In 2013, AMCU represented over 70% of

employees, compared to the 20% representation of the NUM. It is also the majority union at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) and Impala Platinum. In 2024, as a result of a resolution of the 2023 Special National Congress, the Labour Party was formed.

References

See also