Africa, Miners | featured news

Evidence presented to a panel investigating the police shooting of striking platinum miners in Marikana in August strongly suggests that weapons were placed next to the bodies of dead miners, lawyers representing victims’ families said.

South African police on Saturday fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse miners rallying in Marikana after raids on their hostels to seize arms, witnesses said.

South African police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse striking miners at a gold mine near Johannesburg on Monday, the latest outbreak in a wave of labor militancy spreading from platinum mining into other parts of the sector.

The withdrawal of murder charges against 270 South African miners for the killings of 34 co-workers by police followed intense public pressure - including a report that the victims were shot execution-style or crushed by police vehicles.

Labour unrest in South Africa's platinum belt spread on Wednesday, raising concerns that anger over low wages and poor living conditions could generate fresh violence after 34 striking miners were shot dead by police last week.

The police killing of 34 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche on Friday, with searching questions asked of its post-apartheid soul.

At least 60 miners were killed when a shaft collapsed in a remote part of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where local armed groups complicated rescue efforts, officials said on Thursday.