Did Zuma Collude With the Mining Bosses? First published in Counterpunch by BENJAMIN FOGEL “Two hundred thousand subterranean heroes who, by day and by night, for a mere pittance lay down their lives to the familiar `fall of rock` and who, at deep levels, ranging from...
platinum
The Marikana Massacre | by Siboniso
The massacre of 34 people by police in Marikana, South Africa last week shocked not only locals, but the world. The conflict has many dimensions but the chief factors that led to it are being analysed in a very thorough way by the media, numerous political entities...
Can’t you hear the thunder? | by Jay Naidoo
The headlines scream 'Marikana Massacre'; 'Killing Fields of Rustenburg'. Radio and TV Talk shows and social media all display the anger and expose the psyche of a nation badly wounded. The bloodiest security operation since the end of apartheid has left us shocked...
South African mining unrest spreads | by Helen Thomas
Labour unrest engulfing the South African platinum industry spread on Wednesday, prompting fears of a broader mining crisis in one of the main commodity-producing countries. Platinum and gold prices continued to soar as investors braced for supply disruptions after 44...
The brutal history of South Africa’s platinum industry | by Gavin Capps
Gavin Capps looks at how platinum has taken centre stage in South Africa's mining industry—and how workers have paid the cost Platinum mining is a big part of South Africa's economy. South Africa holds 88 percent of the world's platinum reserves and accounts for over...
Neo-Apartheid and the South African Miners Massacre | by Thomas C. Mountain
As the legendary life of South African leader Nelson Mandela draws to a close his legacy to his people has been brutally splashed across television screens worldwide showing neo-Apartheid police firing automatic weapons into crowds of striking African miners, killing...
Echoes of the Past:Marikana, Cheap Labour and the 1946 Miners Strike
Chris Webb On August 4, 1946 over one thousand miners assembled in Market Square in Johannesburg, South Africa. No hall in the town was big enough to hold them, and no one would have rented one to them anyway. The miners were members of the African Mine Worker's...
Historic Lonmin faces “perfect storm” after killings
LONDON - "You can never have enough enemies," Tiny Rowland once boasted, but even the buccaneering tycoon who built what is now Lonmin plc might blench before the "perfect storm" it faces after South African police killed 34 strikers at its Marikana platinum mine....
Bid to limit strikes in aftermath of Marikana | by Monde Maoto
The government and the mining industry have taken the first steps to limit illegal strike action in the platinum sector and to refine wage negotiating processes, both seen to be key factors behind the violence at Lonmin last week. Meanwhile, the stage is set for...

