South Africa pushes to quell striking miners

Published on 18/09/2012 00:00

South African police stopped ANC renegade Julius Malema from addressing striking miners yesterday as the government intensified efforts to contain labour unrest at mines in the world’s top platinum producer.

The strife has cost the industry 4.5 billion rand (about £335 million) in lost output, president Jacob Zuma said, as two mines reopened. But there is still no end in sight to a deadly strike at mines belonging to Lonmin, in which 45 people have died.

Strikers also said they would keep shut four mines at Rustenburg run by the world’s top producer, Anglo American Platinum, which the company aims to reopen today.

“There is no need to resort to violence. I believe we must not encourage that,” Mr Zuma told a conference of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

Mr Malema, a rebel expelled from the ANC, has become Mr Zuma’s most strident critic and has urged strikers to make mines “ungovernable”.