Hon Speaker, it is true that the tragedy at Marikana has revealed serious fault lines in our country today, but this is because of big business and big governments and big unions working together to keep the rules of the game working in favour of a small, connected elite at the centre. This has served to keep everybody else out and has enflamed tensions in the mining industry. At the moment, the current labour relations regime states that union representation thresholds must be set at 51%, which led to a situation where the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, Amcu, was not a recognised union at Lonmin mine. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union was therefore excluded from wage negotiations, empowering the ANC-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers, NUM, to establish a monopoly at the mine.
My question is about labour negotiations and relations in general, which are critical to social cohesion. Does the President believe that smaller unions should be empowered to negotiate on behalf of their members and not be excluded by big unions like NUM in a winner-takes-all scenario? Does the President believe that this can avert the tension and the possible violence that is now posing a threat to South Africa's mining sector? Thank you very much. [Applause.]