* MPs hold memorial service for miners
* Not enough workers at posts to resume ore production
* Deadly precedent set in previous sackings
By Sherilee Lakmidas
JOHANNESBURG, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Platinum producer Lonmin
fears that sacking 3,000 striking South African mine workers,
who face a Tuesday deadline to report back to their posts, could
lead to more violence after police last week shot dead 34 miners
in scenes reminiscent of apartheid bloodshed.
Most of the strikers stayed off the job, saying they had
sacrificed too much to return. Police helicopters hovered over
Lonmin’s Marikana mine, about 100 km (60 miles)
northwest of Johannesburg, while heavily armed officers
patrolled the property.
The world’s third-biggest platinum producer Lonmin said
about a third of its 28,000 workers at the Marikana mine had
returned to work – not enough to extract ore.
Thousands of workers remained off the job due in part to
lingering safety concerns and uncertainty if there would
anything for them to do since the 3,000 strikers were mostly
rock drill operators who are at the front line of breaking up
the masses of underground stone
Crowds of workers, watched closely by police, gathered near
the site of the shooting, ignoring the company’s threat of
punishments that could ultimately lead to job losses.
Continued…
