http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Lonmin-warns-strikers-as-govt-committee-heads-to-Marikana-20120819
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/20/striking-south-african-miners-lonmin
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Lonmin-miners-vow-to-keep-striking-20120819
and....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/9486534/Lonmin-tells-striking-South-African-workers-to-return-to-work-or-risk-losing-their-jobs.html
Top government committee heads to Marikana
2012-08-19 22:15
Marikana mourner. (Denis Farrell, AP)
- Top government committee heads to Marikana- 19 Aug
- Chabane to lead Marikana committee - 19 Aug
- Week of mourning after mine shooting - 19 Aug
- Role of AMCU 'must be probed' - 19 Aug
- Lonmin miners vow to keep striking - 19 Aug
- Marikana 'was a war zone' - 19 Aug
- Ramaphosa lends hand with Lonmin burials -19 Aug
- Mining task force to be set up - 19 Aug
- Malema supports striking miners - 19 Aug
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Marikana - Miners must return to work on Monday or face being fired from the platinum mine where rivalry between unions exploded into violence that led to the deaths of 44 people in a week, Lonmin PLC said on Sunday.
Thirty-four were gunned down by police in one of the worst displays of state violence since apartheid ended in 1994.
President Jacob Zuma declared a week of national mourning starting on Monday to commemorate the lives of all South Africans who have died violently, especially the 44 at Marikana mine.
"The nation is in shock and pain," Zuma said in a statement. "We must this week reflect on the sanctity of human life ... We must avoid finger-pointing and recrimination. We must unite against violence from whatever quarter."
Hundreds of rock-drill operators have been leading an illegal strike among the mine's 28 000-strong labour force. Threats of violence kept many more away.
Lonmin had initially ordered miners to return to work by Friday. Then, after the shootings, changed the deadline to Monday, spokesperson Sue Vey explained.
Strikers said they were not sure what to do about the ultimatum. The company has not responded to their demands for the minimum wage to be increased from R5 500 to R12 500.
Last year, after a similar dispute over labour representation stopped work at its nearby Karee mine, Lonmin fired all 9 000 workers. Then it asked them to reapply for their jobs and most were rehired.
"Because we work as a majority, if the majority goes back to work tomorrow [Monday] I'm going too," said miner Vuyisile Mchiza.
"But if the majority is not going back to work tomorrow, I'm not going either because I won't be able to go to work while others are sitting grieving."
Memorial
More than 100 people, miners, their families and local community members, processed past the mine on Sunday singing hymns as they made their way to the dusty veld where police officers fired a barrage of shots from automatic rifles and pistols at a group of charging miners on Thursday.
A moving memorial was led by Pastor Sakhumzi Qiqimana of Marikana New Creation Ministry who told those gathered: "Now we have no power to come in the middle of the negotiations of the company and the workers, but we are here now to pray and say 'God forgive us,' and now we are here to say 'This [killing] must stop.'"
Police say one of the charging miners shot at them first with a pistol and that they acted in self-defence. Earlier in the week, the strikers had butchered two captured police officers with machetes.
Lonmin said on Saturday that it will pay for the educations of all children of mine employees killed in the unrest, up to university level.
A presidential statement on Sunday said Zuma would announce the composition of a judicial commission of inquiry into the killings and its terms of reference within a few days.
It said he had appointed a committee comprising North West Premier Thandi Modise and the ministers of mineral resources Susan Shabangu, police Nathi Mthethwa, social developmentBathabile Dlamini, co-operative governance Richard Baloyi, labour Mildred Oliphant, defence and military veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, health Aaron Motsoaledi, state securitySiyabonga Cwele, and home affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to co-ordinate and lead all support to families and relatives.
The presidency said the committee would visit Marikana on Monday.
Many people have said they do not know whether missing husbands and sons are among the dead, among 78 wounded, or among more than 250 arrested on charges ranging from public violence to murder.
Zuma urged South Africans to "reaffirm our belief in peace, stability and order and in building a caring society free of crime and violence".
and....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/20/striking-south-african-miners-lonmin
Striking South African miners defy Lonmin ultimatum
Three-quarters of striking workers refuse to return to platinum mine where 44 people killed by police last week
Email
Mine workers outside the Lonmin mine near Rustenburg, South Africa: about 3,000 strikers were told to turn up to work or face the sack. Photograph: Themba Hadebe/AP
Around three-quarters of the workers at a South African platinum mine where 44 people were killed by police last week have refused to return to work despite an ultimatum by the mine's owners.
About 3,000 striking rock-drillers were told by Lonmin, owner of the platinum mine in Marikana in North West province, to show up or potentially be sacked.
A Lonmin spokesperson told Reuters: "Attendance has started slowly but is now up to 27%. But it is unclear if the striking workers are returning."
South African media reports suggested that many would continue to stay away. Miner Kaizer Madiba told the Times newspaper: "People have died already so we have nothing more to lose … we are going to continue fighting for what we believe is a legitimate fight for living wages. We would rather die like our comrades than back down."
A rock-driller told the Mail & Guardian's website: "It's better to die than to work for that shit … I am not going to stop striking. We are going to protest until we get what we want. They have said nothing to us. Police can try and kill us but we won't move."
London-based Lonmin's deadline was also condemned by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu). "It is too harsh of management to talk in this way," said its treasurer, Jimmy Gama, describing the ultimatum as "very unfair".
Thirty-four striking miners were gunned down at the mine on Thursday when they stormed a police line. Ten other people, included two police officers, died in violence earlier last week. The incident has stunned South Africans and provoked comparisons with the brutality of apartheid-era security crackdowns.
President Jacob Zuma has announced a week of mourning after the tragedy, with flags flying at half mast all over South Africa, and set up a ministerial task team and judicial commission of inquiry.
Two hundred and fifty-nine strikers arrested in connection with the protests will appear in the Rustenburg magistrates court on Monday facing charges including murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, public violence and malicious damage to property.
Shares in Lonmin, the world's third biggest platinum producer, fell a further 5% on Monday.
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Lonmin-miners-vow-to-keep-striking-20120819
Lonmin miners vow to keep striking
2012-08-19 14:31
Marikana - Workers at South Africa's tragedy-hit mine vowed Sunday to prolong their wildcat strike as returning to work would be "an insult" to 34 colleagues killed by police.
The scene of Thursday's bloodshed, the worst police violence since apartheid, was deserted as workers at a hostel of the London-listed Lonmin platinum mine said they would press on with their wage demands.
"Expecting us to go back is like an insult. Many of our friends and colleagues are dead, then they expect us to resume work. Never," said worker Zachariah Mbewu, adding that no one would return to work as long as they were still in mourning.
"Some are in prison and hospitals. Tomorrow we are going back to the mountain (protest site), not underground, unless management gives us what we want."
Fiery former ruling party youth leader Julius Malema fanned workers' anger with a speech on Saturday attacking President Jacob Zuma, whom he wants voted out in the African National Congress's year-end party elections.
Zuma must step down
"President Zuma decided over the massacre of our people, he must step down," Malema, who was booted out of the ANC in April for fomenting divisions within its ranks, told a crowd.
"It has never happened before that so many people were killed in a single day and it became normal," he added.
Police maintained a low profile on Sunday at the hostel where workers were going about their daily chores, but the anger level remained high.
"We are waiting for a word from the management," said Fezile Magxaba, an underground supervisor at the mine.
"Tomorrow we won't return to work unless they listen to our demands of salary increases. People have died, we are angry. If we return it will be like they died in vain," he said while doing his laundry at a communal tap.
The crackdown on Thursday left 34 dead, 78 wounded and 259 detained, according to police.
The toll came on top of 10 already dead, including two police officers, in violence blamed on rivalry between unions during the strike to back demands for a wage rise.
The strike shut down production at the mine, owned by the world's third biggest platinum producer.
and....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/mining/9486534/Lonmin-tells-striking-South-African-workers-to-return-to-work-or-risk-losing-their-jobs.html
10:02PM BST 19 Aug 2012
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Lonmin said that the ultimatum is a “last opportunity to return to work” for the 3,000 employees who took part in strikes that led to some of the worst violence seen in South Africa since apartheid.
A total of 44 people have died due to the violence at the Marikana mine, with 34 shot by police.
The violence stemmed from a rivalry between the militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the National Union of Mineworkers, which has ties to the ruling African National Congress.
Workers said the order from the company is an “insult”.
However, Simon Scott, chief financial officer, said: “As the government has made clear, it is in the interests of our workers and the country, as well as the company, that the mines are operational.
