CNN has been airing a news item about striking platinum miners in South
Africa. I have not seen it on MSNBC, although maybe it is there.
CNN says 18 miners were killed by strike-breaking policemen.
South African police open fire on striking platinum miners
Unknown number of workers injured, possibly dead, after officers move in on
strike over pay which has already seen nine killed.
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 August 2012 11.44 EDT
[Video] The moment when South African police opened fire on striking miners.
Source: Reuters Link to this video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/16/south-african-police-striking-miners?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
South African police have opened fire on a crowd of striking workers
at a platinum mine, leaving an unknown number of people injured and
possibly dead.
Police moved in on the strikers who gathered on a
rocky outcrop near the Lonmin mine on Thursday afternoon. On TV footage, a
volley of intense gunfire could be heard. The private television
broadcaster e.tv showed images of still bodies lying in blood in the
dust. Another image showed some miners looking in the distance at
heavily armed police officers in riot gear.
Police Captain Dennis
Adriao, a spokesman for the officers at the mine, declined to
immediately comment. Jeff Wicks, a spokesman for the private ambulance
company Netcare, which was standing by at the mine, also declined to
comment.
Barnard Mokwena, an executive vice-president at Lonmin,
would only say: "It's a police operation." Lonmin is the world's
third-largest platinum producer.
In a statement earlier on
Thursday, Lonmin had said striking workers would be sacked if they did
not turn up for their shifts on Friday.
"The striking (workers) remain armed and away from work," the statement read.
"This is illegal."
The unrest at the Lonmin mine began on 10 August when about 3,000 workers
walked off the job in protest over pay. Management described the action
as an illegal strike.
Those who tried to go to work on Saturday were attacked, management and the
National Union of Mineworkers said.
On Sunday, a crowd killed two security guards after setting their car
ablaze, authorities said. By Monday, angry mobs killed two other workers and
overpowered police, killing two officers, officials said. Officers
opened fire that day, killing three, police said.
Operations
appeared to come to a standstill on Tuesday as workers stayed away from
the mines, where 96% of Lonmin's platinum is produced.
The shootings on Thursday saw stock in Lonmin plunge 6.33% in trading on the
London Stock Exchange.
While the walkout appeared to be about wages, the ensuing violence has been
fuelled by the struggles between the dominant National Union of
Mineworkers and the upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction
Union. Disputes between the two unions escalated into violence earlier this
year at another mine.
Both unions have blamed each other for the trouble at the mine at Marikana,
about 40 miles (70km) north-west of Johannesburg.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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