Miners, police stand-off leaves 10 dead

MARIKANA (AP):

Police and military helicopters buzzed over a shuttered South African platinum mine yesterday as thousands of angry miners shouted and raised their fists over poor pay and working conditions.

Nearby, children walked past the dead body of a middle-aged man in sight of the processing plant at the Lonmin PLC mine. The unrest, exacerbated by duelling labour unions, has killed at least 10 people in the latest discontent gripping South Africa's mining industry.

Barnard O. Mokwena, an executive vice-president for Lonmin, said the company continued to meet with the police regarding the violence. Yesterday, operations appeared at a standstill at a facility that represents 96 per cent of all production for the world's third-largest platinum producer.

Workers unfurled razor wire to wrap around fencing at a facility within sight where angry workers met. Police in heavily armoured trucks drove through the shacks, hostels and simple homes of the workers here. They did not stop.

The unrest began Friday when about 3,000 workers launched what managers called an illegal strike.

Frans Baleni, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, blamed the violence on upstart union Association of Mineworkers and Construction.