Rustenburg - The National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM) is a victim of a pattern of intimidation and
violence familiar to mine bosses and the police, the union said on
Tuesday.
"This phenomenon started at Impala
Platinum, where workers were intimidated and attacked," general
secretary Frans Baleni told reporters in Rustenburg.
"We are still awaiting the
successful prosecution of those who committed the same acts at
Impala."
A tenth body has been discovered at
Lonmin's troubled Marikana mine in the North West, police said on
Tuesday.
"We were notified of a body found
in the bushes. The total figure now stands at 10. We don't know who
the man was and how he died," said Captain Dennis Adriao.
A Sapa reporter who was on the scene
said the body was lying, face upwards, 100m away from a hilltop
where workers gathered earlier on Tuesday.
The man was wearing khaki clothes.
Nine other people - two police officers,
two security guards, three protesters and two other men - had been
killed the past few days at Lonmin's Marikana mine in violence that
started on Friday. Members of the NUM and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu),
were reportedly fighting for control of local mines.
Baleni accused Lonmin of negotiating
with rock drill operators outside the bargaining council. The company
had offered the drillers extra money to retain their skills, he said.
"That resulted in other people
approaching the workers, promising to negotiate more money for them.
The company's actions undermined bargaining structures."
He said Amcu was the "smaller
union" and was recruiting members from "mountain tops".
"The police did not take our
advice regarding this phenomenon, despite what had happened at
Impala."
Baleni said the union's membership in
the country's platinum belt was not under threat.
Amcu's claim that the NUM was about to
lose recognition status was "hogwash", Baleni said.
"We have over 60% representation
at Lonmin [JSE:LON]. We are the majority union and are growing."
Solidarity and Ceppawu are the other
two unions at Lonmin.
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