The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wants wage increases of up to 60%.
Workers last week rejected an offer of a 6% rise – the same as the current annual rate of inflation.
South Africa’s gold industry is one of the biggest in the world but has been in decline in recent years, while the platinum sector is recovering from violence during last year’s strikes.
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If there are bosses that sit in air-conditioned offices earning millions a year, why can’t they [miners] earn 7,000 ($700) basic a month?”
Lesiba SeshokaNUM spokesman
It has been estimated that the gold miners’ strike could cost South Africa more than $30m (£20m) a day in lost output.
Mine owners are warning that the strike could lead to gold mines closing and thousands of jobs being lost, following a fall in the price of gold.
They say that their production costs have increased as they have had to dig ever deeper to extract gold.
For many years, South Africa was by far the world’s largest gold producer and accounted for 68% of global output in 1970, reports the AFP news agency.
It is now the 5th biggest, with just 6% of world production but mining is still the most important sector in South Africa’s economy.
‘Not excessive’
President Jacob Zuma has urged both sides to find a solution, saying: “A strike hurts both sides.”
Workers will walk out from their shift which starts at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT), said NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka.
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Mining South Africa’s riches
$1· Minerals and metals account for 60% of all export revenue
$1· Mining contributes close to 10% of South Africa’s GDP
$1· 513,211 jobs – in 2011
$1· South Africa is world’s biggest platinum producer, with 80% of the world’s reserves
$1· It has 50% of known global gold reserves
Source : South African Chamber of Mines (2012)
He denied that a 60% pay rise was excessive, telling AFP: “If there are bosses that sit in air-conditioned offices earning millions a year, why can’t they (miners) earn 7,000 ($700) basic a month?”
The NUM represents about 64% of South Africa’s 120,000 gold miners.
South Africans were shocked last year when police shot dead 34 platinum miners during an unofficial strike called by a rival union, which accused the NUM of being too close to the ANC government.
The BBC’s Mike Wooldridge in Johannesburg says that with elections taking place next year, the government is hoping to contain labour unrest in the current wage bargaining season.
Strikes in the vehicle manufacturing and construction industries are already hitting South Africa’s vulnerable economy, he say