There has not been a major miners' strike for 16 years

The South African mine workers' union has called off a strike in the gold mining industry, accepting a 10% pay offer from employers.

"The mining houses, on the outstanding issues of wages and job grading, have met our demands," the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said in a statement.

Mining firms AngloGold, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold all increased their pay offer to 10% in last-ditch talks to avert Sunday's planned strike by about 100,000 workers.

The NUM consulted its members on Sunday before announcing the decision to accept the offer.

A walkout by miners would have been the South African mining industry's first major strike for 16 years.

The NUM rejected several raised offers to hold out for a double-digit increase.

Regrading row

The two sides have also argued over pension fund contributions, holidays, and job grading.

It is unclear whether the NUM's demands for the regrading of some jobs to higher wage bands have been met.

Employers' negotiators have argued that the regrading would make any settlement unaffordable.

Frans Barker, chief negotiator for the Chamber of Mines, said the new wage offers were dependent on a postponement of regrading demands, Reuters news agency reported.

It reported him as saying the gold companies had agreed to speed up a review of grades and present their findings by the end of 2003.

The dispute began two months ago, with the NUM initially demanding a 20% wage increase, and the Chamber of Mines unwilling to go above 7%.