National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa)
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| Full name | National Union of Mineworkers |
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| Founded | 1982 |
| Members | 300,000 |
| Affiliation | COSATU, ICEM |
| Key people | David Kolekile Sipunzi, general secretary |
| Office location | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Country | South Africa |
| Website | www.num.org.za |
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is a trade union in South Africa. With a membership of 300,000 it is the largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. It was founded in 1982 as a black mine workers union by Cyril Ramaphosa and grew rapidly, winning bargaining recognition from the Chamber of Mines in 1983.
NUM campaigned successfully in the 1980s for the end of the job reservation system, a system which ensured that the best-paid jobs were allocated to whites.
NUM is affiliated internationally with the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions.
On 4 December 2007, the Union went on strike to protest working conditions in South Africa's mines. The strike was spurred on by a rise in worker fatalities from 2006 to 2007, despite a government plan in October to reduce fatalities. Less than 5% of mineworkers came to work on that day.
On 10 August 2012, thousands of NUM members began a series of wildcat strikes at Lonmin's Marikana mines linked to demands for increased pay. The following day, NUM leaders allegedly opened fire on striking NUM members who were marching to their offices to demand support from their union - an incident now acknowledge as the first violent incident during the strikes. It is said in the media that the killing of two striking miners was a central reason for the breakdown in trust within the union amongst workers. In a submission to the Farlam Commission, NUM has said that lethal force on this day was justified.
It is estimated that between the 12th and the 14th of August about nine people (at least four miners, two police officers and two security guards) were killed in the area around Marikana - though there is conflicting reports on who killed whom during these dates.
On 16 August, police opened fire on a group of miners who had gathered on a hill near Nkaneng,at least 34 people were killed at Marikana, 78 were injured and 259 were arrested. The miners were carrying machetes and had refused a request to disarm. According to the Congress of South African Trade Unions, police had first used tear gas, water cannons and then used "live ammunition". The killings have been labelled a massacre throughout the media with police, Lonmin and NUM itself being blamed.
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