(http://www.channelstv.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/south-africa-protesters.jpg)South African workers of world No. 3 platinum producer Lonmin launched a wildcat strike on Tuesday, halting all of the company's mine operations and reigniting fears of deadly unrest that rocked the industry last year.(http://www.channelstv.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/south-africa-protesters-300x169.jpg) (http://www.channelstv.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/south-africa-protesters.jpg) The platinum belt towns of Rustenburg and Marikana, which saw a bloody Lonmin strike last year, are volatile flashpoint of labour strife and tensions are running high with job cuts and wage talks looming. The share price of Lonmin slid over 6 percent and the rand currency hit 3-week lows, underscoring investor jitters over a potential repeat of the 2012 mines turmoil, which hammered platinum and gold production and triggered credit downgrades for Africa's largest economy. Lonmin's Marikana mine was the epicenter of last year's strikes, where 34 protesting workers were killed by police in a single day in August. The bloodshed sparked widespread criticism of the African National Congress (ANC) government's handling of the mine troubles. "All 13 shafts are not operational Employees which arrived at work but did not proceed underground," said Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey. She said there was no indication at this stage as to why employees were on strike. But a spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said the strike appeared to stem from anger over the weekend killing of a local organizer from rival union Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). A police statement at the weekend said that a 46-year-old man who was "alleged to be the regional organizer of AMCU" had been killed in a Rustenburg tavern on Saturday when an assailant shot him four times with a 9mm pistol.
Via: ChannelsTV