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Trade union federation Cosatu has condemned Julius Malema's call for a national strike at all the mines until the leadership of the National Union of Mineworkers steps down.
Cosatu said Malema was playing a dangerous game and was exploiting the emotions of angry workers.
Spokesperson, Patrick Craven, says this can only inflame tensions within the mining industry, flames which Malema is quite incapable of quenching.
The National Union of Mineworkers has meanwhile appealed to miners to reject Malema's "hogwash" and return to work.
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said thousands of miners stand to lose their jobs due to irresponsible comments by Malema and his ilk.
Speaking to striking workers at Gold Fields' Driefontein mine outside Carletonville on Tuesday, Malema called on all miners to strike until Frans Baleni and the NUM leadership step down with immediate effect.
Baleni is the union's secretary-general. The union said Malema's statement was "irresponsible".
It condemned his attack on the NUM leadership and the behaviour of taking advantage of vulnerable people to score cheap political points.
