 Since June 20, the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa or NUMSA has been on an indefinite strike at the Impala Platinum mines in the northwest province of the country. These mines are operated by Impala Platinum, a multi-billion dollar company that deals with the mining, refining and marketing of platinum and other metals. At least 4,000 mine workers are participating in this strike action. These are contract workers employed by Ria Hitzwe Mining Group, Triple M Mining and New Rack Mining. All three companies are contracted to provide services to Impala Platinum or Implats. NUMSA has stated that workers are enraged because of the exploitative practices of these contract companies. They pay contract workers only a fraction of what permanent employees earn without any medical aid and benefits. NUMSA spokesperson Fakameele Lubey Majola explained that a rock-driller operator at Implats earns a minimum of 17,000 rounds per month with benefits. But a worker at the same post working under a contractor doesn't earn more than 5,000 rounds a month without any benefits. NUMSA declared in its statement that Implats has refused to take any responsibility for this state of affairs even as these contractors continue to exploit workers. The three contract companies have been attempting to shut down the strike through various unfair means. On June 21, the Ria Hitzwe Mining Group succeeded in getting a court order to suspend the strike of the workers employed by it. The contractor stated in court that the workers cannot proceed with this strike as NUMSA is not the recognized bargaining agent at the company. Ria Hitzwe has been continuing to negotiate with the Association of Mine Workers and Construction Union or AMCU, despite the fact that this union no longer represents a majority of the workers at the company. Ria Hitzwe rushed to court in a bid to block us from continuing with the strike at Implats, which started on Monday. At least 4,000 workers were exploited by these contractors are on strike at Impala Platinum Mines in Rustenburg in the Northwest. We also argued that AMCU is no longer the majority union. Management of Ria Hitzwe are aware that NUMSA represents 1,200 members out of 1,400 workers and they keep signing agreements with AMCU, which is no longer a majority union. They are running away from conducting verification which will confirm NUMSA's majority. Both Ria Hitzwe Mining Group and Triple M Mining have been ordered by the Labour Court to conduct verification to confirm that NUMSA is the majority union. So far, they have refused to comply with this court order. Triple M Mining received the orders earlier this month, while their Hitzwe Mining Group was ordered last August. Meanwhile at Newrack, NUMSA is a recognized union, but the company has not been allowing union members to access the workplace for meetings. Newrack is claiming that Implats does not want NUMSA at the workplace. NUMSA stated that they had given the company's prior notice of the upcoming strike and submitted their wage demands, still the contractors refused to engage in negotiations. The union is also demanding permanent jobs for the contract workers. Four years ago in 2018, NUMSA had even won a decision in the Constitution Court stating that workers employed by labour brokers for over three months should be made permanent employees with the same salary and benefits as permanent workers. Fahamiliya said, the majority of our members have been working at Implats for years and this kind of employment is an attack on their dignity. It relegates them to a permanent state of poverty. These people are creators of wealth and are responsible for the obscene profits of the company. They should live dignified lives. Unfortunately the court granted an interim order to Riyach Hitzwe and this means that the strike has been temporarily interdicted but only for workers at Riyach Hitzwe. Workers at NUMSA and Newrack can continue the strike. We have to return to court at a later date to determine whether this order must be made permanent.