Lay preacher turned union boss wages South African class war

Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), gestures as he addresses members of the mining community during a strike at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine in Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Addressing thousands of stick-wielding striking platinum miners last month, South Africa's bold new union boss told them proudly that he and his comrades "did not sit in boardrooms."

But Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) which has turned South Africa's labour relations on its head, now has the full attention of the directors who sit in them.