[h=3]By DEVON MAYLIE[/h]MARIKANA, South Africa—A day after firing live ammunition that killed nearly three dozen striking platinum miners here, South African police sought to justify the use of deadly force, as families searched for lost relatives and the country reeled from some of the worst violence since its turbulent transition to democracy 18 years ago.
Thirty-four protesters died when they clashed with police near Lonmin PLC's platinum mine late Thursday afternoon, South Africa's National Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, told reporters Friday. It was the first confirmation of the death toll since a standoff between miners and police erupted into a shootout.
In all, 44 people have died in violence since an illegal strike began Aug. 10 at the Lonmin mine near Rustenburg, about 60 miles northwest of Johannesburg.
South African police said they fired on striking workers Thursday after a group charged with machetes, clubs and firearms. Police had been trying to disperse protesters with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades but when that failed, they said, they resorted to bullets.
The death toll in a deadly clash between police and platinum mine workers of Lonmin climbed Friday, as South African health and union officials said at least 29 people died. WSJ's Devon Maylie reports from the scene of the shooting. Photo: Getty.
[h=3]Photos[/h]
ReutersA miner ran outside the mine. Police had previously urged the miners to give up their weapons and go home to their hostels and shacks.
In video footage of the incident, sustained gunshots can be heard followed by police calling for a cease-fire. Several bodies of miners are later seen on the ground.
Some of the striking miners claimed it was police who shot first, and that they were armed only with sticks. South African police said they recovered six firearms, including one that belonged to a police officer slain earlier this week.
South African police fired on striking platinum workers wielding pistols and machetes, resulting in an unknown death toll and deepening labor turmoil in the continent's largest economy. Peter Wonacott has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters.
The strike has hammered Lonmin's shares. They edged slightly lower on Friday, but have fallen almost 15% since Oct. 10. Meanwhile, platinum prices continued to rise Friday after the extent of the violence became clear. South Africa accounts for 80% of the world's platinum production.
Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer, could lose more than 100,000 troy ounces of platinum production if the strike at the Marikana mine lasts for six weeks, Credit Suisse estimated.
By Friday morning, the hillside where striking miners had gathered had been cleared and cordoned off with barbed wire and police tape. Investigators marked spots in the ground with small plastic flags. But many families had just begun to search for relatives who didn't return the night before.
Associated PressAn unidentified woman cries Friday as she protests the killing of mine workers in South Africa.
Speaking outside Lonmin's Andrew Saffy Hospital, next to Lonmin's platinum mine, Sizwe Jako said he was looking for his brother. "We don't know if he is alive, in prison or in the hospital," said Mr. Jako, standing in the afternoon sun with his sister. "It is confusing."
In a statement, Lonmin said it was "committed to supporting all the families that lost loved ones during this tragic week." The company said it had established a help desk at the hospital to aid the identification of bodies, assist with all the burial arrangements and offer bereavement counseling.
The police commissioner said her forces would assist with any investigation into the bloodshed.
"This is no time for blaming. This isn't time for finger pointing," Ms. Phiyega said. "It is time for us to mourn the sad and dark moment we experience as a country."
Associated PressAn unidentified woman chants Friday after the killing of striking mine workers.
Still, the scenes of club and machete-wielding protesters challenging the country's heavily armed security forces recalled other dark moments for South Africa. Violence gripped the country ahead of 1994 elections that spelled the end of apartheid, or white minority rule, and voted in the South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela. Regular street battles left scores dead.
Labor leaders and Lonmin management have blamed a rivalry between two unions for the violence around the platinum mine.
"We have generally operated in partnership with the unions to the benefit of the company and the employees, which is why the illegal strike we've seen is so disappointing and damaging," said Simon Scott, Lonmin's chief financial officer.
Lonmin mine workers said that, at the heart of their frustration, was the lack of change since the end of apartheid. At the edge of the Lonmin mine, many workers live in shack camps, their homes no more than tin boxes that don't have running water or electricity. Several of the miners on strike said they make 4,000 rand a month, or about $490, too little to live on and support families.
Bench-Marks Foundation, a South African based nongovernment group that monitors corporate social responsibility, said mining companies in general are "obsessed" with cost cutting. The pressure to keep down costs comes at the expense of workers and leads to strikes to protest low wages and unsafe working conditions, it said in a report released this month.
The violence has spurred soul-searching in the rest of South Africa. The nation's newspaper editorials linked the miners' deadly protests to poverty in black townships. Blame fell on South Africa's leadership.
"Where were the unions, where was…safety and security, where were the community leaders when they were needed most?" South Africa's Star newspaper said in a front-page editorial.
The newspaper said the country's leaders "sat back and did nothing as this tragedy sped to its ultimate end yesterday. This morning, they have blood on their hands—just like the police who pulled the triggers."
The bloodshed prompted South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on Friday to announce he would cut short a trip to neighboring Mozambique for a summit of regional leaders and pay a visit to Rustenburg, near the mine site.
President Zuma "is concerned about the violent nature of the protest, especially given that the constitution and labor laws allow enough avenues to deal with issues," a statement from his office said.
But miners who participated in the illegal strike say leaders have, for too long, ignored their problems.
"Government doesn't take this seriously. They take sides. We stay in shacks with no electricity and no running water," says Edward Zolisa Bedlani, 32 years old, who was at the protest on the hill and has worked at Lonmin since 2002. He pledged not to return to work until management met with them.
He was then pulled away by another man who declined to give his name but vowed to continue fighting. "We don't care if we get killed," the man said.
—Patrick McGroarty in Johannesburg and Tatyana Shumsky in New York contributed to this article.Write to Devon Maylie at [email protected]
Thirty-four protesters died when they clashed with police near Lonmin PLC's platinum mine late Thursday afternoon, South Africa's National Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, told reporters Friday. It was the first confirmation of the death toll since a standoff between miners and police erupted into a shootout.
In all, 44 people have died in violence since an illegal strike began Aug. 10 at the Lonmin mine near Rustenburg, about 60 miles northwest of Johannesburg.
South African police said they fired on striking workers Thursday after a group charged with machetes, clubs and firearms. Police had been trying to disperse protesters with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades but when that failed, they said, they resorted to bullets.
The death toll in a deadly clash between police and platinum mine workers of Lonmin climbed Friday, as South African health and union officials said at least 29 people died. WSJ's Devon Maylie reports from the scene of the shooting. Photo: Getty.
[h=3]Photos[/h]
ReutersA miner ran outside the mine. Police had previously urged the miners to give up their weapons and go home to their hostels and shacks.
In video footage of the incident, sustained gunshots can be heard followed by police calling for a cease-fire. Several bodies of miners are later seen on the ground.
Some of the striking miners claimed it was police who shot first, and that they were armed only with sticks. South African police said they recovered six firearms, including one that belonged to a police officer slain earlier this week.
South African police fired on striking platinum workers wielding pistols and machetes, resulting in an unknown death toll and deepening labor turmoil in the continent's largest economy. Peter Wonacott has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters.The strike has hammered Lonmin's shares. They edged slightly lower on Friday, but have fallen almost 15% since Oct. 10. Meanwhile, platinum prices continued to rise Friday after the extent of the violence became clear. South Africa accounts for 80% of the world's platinum production.
Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum producer, could lose more than 100,000 troy ounces of platinum production if the strike at the Marikana mine lasts for six weeks, Credit Suisse estimated.
By Friday morning, the hillside where striking miners had gathered had been cleared and cordoned off with barbed wire and police tape. Investigators marked spots in the ground with small plastic flags. But many families had just begun to search for relatives who didn't return the night before.
Associated PressAn unidentified woman cries Friday as she protests the killing of mine workers in South Africa.
Speaking outside Lonmin's Andrew Saffy Hospital, next to Lonmin's platinum mine, Sizwe Jako said he was looking for his brother. "We don't know if he is alive, in prison or in the hospital," said Mr. Jako, standing in the afternoon sun with his sister. "It is confusing."
In a statement, Lonmin said it was "committed to supporting all the families that lost loved ones during this tragic week." The company said it had established a help desk at the hospital to aid the identification of bodies, assist with all the burial arrangements and offer bereavement counseling.
The police commissioner said her forces would assist with any investigation into the bloodshed.
"This is no time for blaming. This isn't time for finger pointing," Ms. Phiyega said. "It is time for us to mourn the sad and dark moment we experience as a country."
Associated PressAn unidentified woman chants Friday after the killing of striking mine workers.
Still, the scenes of club and machete-wielding protesters challenging the country's heavily armed security forces recalled other dark moments for South Africa. Violence gripped the country ahead of 1994 elections that spelled the end of apartheid, or white minority rule, and voted in the South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela. Regular street battles left scores dead.
Labor leaders and Lonmin management have blamed a rivalry between two unions for the violence around the platinum mine.
"We have generally operated in partnership with the unions to the benefit of the company and the employees, which is why the illegal strike we've seen is so disappointing and damaging," said Simon Scott, Lonmin's chief financial officer.
Lonmin mine workers said that, at the heart of their frustration, was the lack of change since the end of apartheid. At the edge of the Lonmin mine, many workers live in shack camps, their homes no more than tin boxes that don't have running water or electricity. Several of the miners on strike said they make 4,000 rand a month, or about $490, too little to live on and support families.
Bench-Marks Foundation, a South African based nongovernment group that monitors corporate social responsibility, said mining companies in general are "obsessed" with cost cutting. The pressure to keep down costs comes at the expense of workers and leads to strikes to protest low wages and unsafe working conditions, it said in a report released this month.
The violence has spurred soul-searching in the rest of South Africa. The nation's newspaper editorials linked the miners' deadly protests to poverty in black townships. Blame fell on South Africa's leadership.
"Where were the unions, where was…safety and security, where were the community leaders when they were needed most?" South Africa's Star newspaper said in a front-page editorial.
The newspaper said the country's leaders "sat back and did nothing as this tragedy sped to its ultimate end yesterday. This morning, they have blood on their hands—just like the police who pulled the triggers."
The bloodshed prompted South Africa's President Jacob Zuma on Friday to announce he would cut short a trip to neighboring Mozambique for a summit of regional leaders and pay a visit to Rustenburg, near the mine site.
President Zuma "is concerned about the violent nature of the protest, especially given that the constitution and labor laws allow enough avenues to deal with issues," a statement from his office said.
But miners who participated in the illegal strike say leaders have, for too long, ignored their problems.
"Government doesn't take this seriously. They take sides. We stay in shacks with no electricity and no running water," says Edward Zolisa Bedlani, 32 years old, who was at the protest on the hill and has worked at Lonmin since 2002. He pledged not to return to work until management met with them.
He was then pulled away by another man who declined to give his name but vowed to continue fighting. "We don't care if we get killed," the man said.
—Patrick McGroarty in Johannesburg and Tatyana Shumsky in New York contributed to this article.Write to Devon Maylie at [email protected]