{{Many of the 12,000 miners sacked by Anglo American Platinum in South Africa were expected to gather to protest their dismissal and mourn a colleague killed in clashes with police.}}<\/p>\n
Striking miners were to meet in a stadium in the northern town of Rustenburg, to discuss how to respond to the mass dismissal by the world’s largest platinum producer.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Marikana a union branch leader at a different mine was shot dead Friday evening, his union said.<\/p>\n
“A branch secretary of the union at Western Platinum was shot and killed at his house in Marikana this (Friday) evening,” said National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Lesiba Seshoka in a statement.<\/p>\n
Unions have come under fire as workers reject the traditional negotiation structures and accuse their guilds of conniving with mine managers.<\/p>\n
Around 28,000 Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) workers have been on a wildcat strike for three weeks at the firm’s sprawling facilities in Rustenburg, which account for around a quarter of world platinum production.<\/p>\n
Amplats on Friday said the miners failed to appear before disciplinary hearings “and have therefore been dismissed in their absence.”<\/p>\n
It is the latest crisis to hit South Africa’s vital minerals sector, which has been crippled by a wave of violent disputes over miners’ pay since August.<\/p>\n
The company said the strike had so far cost 700 million rand ($80 million, 60 million euros) in lost revenue.<\/p>\n
“Despite the company’s repeated calls for employees to return to work, we have continued to experience attendance levels of less than 20 percent,” Amplats said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Workers, some of whom received text messages from Amplats informing them of the news, reacted with a mixture of shock and defiance.<\/p>\n
“If they fired us, no problem,” said Claudio, aged 37, from Mozambique. “We are going to market ourselves somewhere else.”<\/p>\n
Others were more circumspect. “Now what is going to happen?” asked a worried 21-year-old miner from the eastern province of Mpumalanga, who had not gone to work because of the threat of violence from colleagues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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