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South Africa's Associated Mineworkers and Construction Union will demand a 15% pay rise in a two-year deal for its platinum mineworker members when negotiations with employers start next Tuesday, AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa said Thursday.

The old deal expired at the end of June. 、

The National Union of Mineworkers demanded 20% across the board in June, but the AMCU is the majority union in the platinum industry with at least a 60% share of membership.

Mathunjwa said negotiations were likely to prove difficult in a country where the economy was contracting and 800,000 graduates were out of work.

"This demand is to address the plight of the working class. We do not demand a strike, but if the employers do apply for a strike we will give it to them," Mathunjwa told reporters in Johannesburg.

The AMCU said it will open negotiations with Angloplats on Tuesday, with Lonmin on Wednesday and with Implats the following day.