Marikana - South African police moved in on Thursday to disperse thousands of striking miners armed with machetes and sticks from Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine, a Reuters cameraman said.
Police at the scene said they had been trying to negotiate with the striking rock-drill operators massed on a rocky outcrop near the mine, but the talks had failed.
Earlier Sapa reported that National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) claimed there is a hit list targeting members of the union at Lonmin
[JSE:LON].
The man found dead on Tuesday in an open veld near the mountain where striking workers had gathered was a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) shop steward, the union's president Frans Baleni said on Thursday.
"We know that the list consists of shop stewards and branch members at Lonmin," he said
Ten people have been killed in violent protests at the mine in Marikana since Friday.
Baleni said three of them were NUM members, and one was a member of the United Association of SA (Uasa).
Last Friday, thousands of rock drill operators started an illegal strike and a protest march.
Two police officers and two security guards are among those killed.
The striking workers are demanded a salary of R12 500 a month for all workers. They currently earn R4 000 a month.
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