Johannesburg - Talks between the police
and striking mine workers at Lonmin's troubled Marikana mine in North
West stalled on Wednesday afternoon.
Workers disregarded the police and
brandished their weapons, singing war songs.
They waved machetes, sharp spears,
knobkerries and iron rods while chanting war songs on a hill in the
area where 10 people have been killed in violent protests since
Friday.
Some of them told journalists that they
wanted nothing but money.
"We don't care about unions, we
want R12 500 a month," said one of them.
Police continued to keep an eye on the
striking workers' activities on the mountain.
Captain Dennis Adriao said the names of
the two police officers who died had not been released because their
families still had to identify them.
Ten people, including two police
officers, were killed over the past few days at Lonmin's Marikana
mine after a protest action that started on Friday.
The violence has been linked to clashes
between members of the National Union of Mineworkers, and the
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, which were
reportedly fighting for control of local mines.
Lonmin [JSE:LON] spokesman Barnard Mokwena said
earlier on Wednesday that the company had not received demands from
workers and was "surprised" by the protests that started
last Friday.
But workers dismissed his utterances,
saying management knew about their demands.
Efforts to gain further comment from
Mokwena were unsuccessful.
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