JOHANNESBURG, Oct 5: One person has been killed in clashes between police and workers on a wildcat strike at an Anglo American Platinum mine in South Africa, a witness and media reported today.
“Yesterday (Thursday) the cops shot many people, but one of them is dead, even the dead body is still there where he was shot yesterday, it has not yet been taken (away),” Gaddhafi Mdoda, a witness and workers’ activist told AFP by phone.
Two radio stations also reported the death, while police said they were investigating the report.
Circumstances surrounding the killing in the northwestern town of Rustenburg remained unclear, but police had yesterday fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a group of striking workers gathered near the mine.
Mdoda claimed police used “live ammunition, there were no rubber bullets.”
Police spokesman Thulani Ngubane told AFP they had received reports of a death.
“At this stage we are busy on a manhunt to see if we can recover the body,” he said adding but “the situation is tense… Anything can happen.”
A Talk Radio 702 reporter this morning said workers were burning tyres and trying to regroup at a stadium, while several armoured police vehicles and a helicopter patrolled the area.
Some 28,000 workers have been on a strike at Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world’s top platinum producer, since September 12, demanding higher wages. (Agencies)
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