South African police barred firebrand Julius Malema from a rally of striking miners today, as President Jacob Zuma warned that the country could ill-afford a recession over mine stoppages.

Zuma told a conference of the country’s powerful Cosatu labour group that $548 million had been lost in gold and platinum production this year and a further 118 million rand in the coal sector.

“The impact goes beyond the mining sector,” he cautioned, saying the manufacturing sector was showing strain.

“We cannot afford to go into a recession, and revert to the 2008 and 2009 period where the country lost close to a million jobs, which we are still battling to recover.”

The warning came as British mining group Lonmin cut its platinum sales forecasts over the ongoing strike at its Marikana mine which has been blighted by a violent strike that has crippled production for more than a month.

Lonmin became the epicentre of a wave of unrest to hit the vital mining sector in recent weeks, with tension forcing several firms to suspend operations in the country’s platinum belt of northwestern Rustenburg.

The striking miners at the Marikana mine meanwhile have accepted for the first time to lower their monthly salary demand of 12,500 rands ($1,520), the mediator in the dispute said today.

Bishop Jo Seoka, president of the South African Council of Churches, told the SAPA news agency that he could not disclose the figure before they tabled it at negotiations with Lonmin set to resume today.

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