* Protesters burn tyres and barricade road
* Amplats admits 20 pct of Rustenburg miners stay away
* Jubilant Lonmin miners return to work after pay rise
By Helen Nyambura-Mwaura
MARIKANA, South Africa, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Thousands
reported back for work at Lonmin’s Marikana mine on Thursday,
ending a strike in which 45 people died, but miners at Amplats
barricaded a street with burning tyres and the firm said it had
been badly hit by a walkout over pay.
A police helicopter hovered above a shanty town near Amplats
mines at Rustenburg, 100 km (70 miles) northwest of
Johannesburg. Armed officers backed by armoured vehicles and
water cannon were on stand-by.
There were no reports of clashes but Anglo American Platinum
, or Amplats, the world’s top producer of the precious
metal, reported only one in five of its workers had turned up at
its Rustenburg mines.
It is clear the wave of wildcat strikes in the mining sector
has not ended with the signing this week of a pay deal at Lonmin
Lonmin , a smaller platinum producer.
Lonmin released details on Thursday of the wage settlement
which will add 14 percent to its wage bill from Oct. 1, a huge
strain on a company with a shaky balance sheet and rising costs
on other fronts.
Continued…
