* Biggest miners’ march since Aug. 16 shootings
* Armed police monitor demonstration
* March casts shadow over mining “peace” talks
By Peroshni Govender
MARIKANA, South Africa, Sept 5 (Reuters) – More than 3,000
striking South African miners marched through streets near
Lonmin’s Marikana mine on Wednesday, the largest protest at the
hot spot since police shot dead 34 of their colleagues last
month.
Police armed with tear gas and assault rifles deployed
armoured vehicles and helicopters to keep an eye on the
stick-waving protesters.
It was the strongest show of police force since the
immediate aftermath of the Aug. 16 shooting, the bloodiest
security incident since the end of apartheid in 1994.
One man at the front of the column waved a placard reading
“We want 12,500 or nothing else”, a reference to the group’s
demand for a hike in base pay to 12,500 rand ($1,500) a month,
more than double their current salary.
The marchers retreated after a two-hour standoff at an
entrance of Lonmin’s nearby Karee mine and talks between a
delegation of protesters and management. There was no violence.
Continued…
