(IDEX Online) - Diamond miners walked out on an indefinite strike at Ekapa, in Kimberley, South Africa, on Monday (7 August) to support their calls for a 17 per cent pay hike. The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) says its 700 members at the mine are being paid a "starvation wage".The union's general secretary Irvin Jim said Ekapa had offered a 6.5 percent increase over the next three years."Ekapa has pleaded poverty and claims they cannot afford our demands. However, C band category workers were given 17 per cent increases," he told DFA, a news website for Kimberley and the Northern Cape."They have provoked this strike by paying workers low wages."Ekapa's general manager Howard Marsden told DFA they'd proposed a fair and sustainable solution."Unfortunately, despite numerous opportunities and extensions provided, Numsa has failed to meet the deadlines set during the wage negotiation process," he said.Pic courtesy Ekapa.