Police visibility in platinum belt intensified

North West Premier Thandi Modise has welcomed the assurance by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa that police visibility in the platinum belt is to be intensified in anticipation of Lonmin mineworkers returning to work.

Modise said that increasing police patrols along the routes would discourage acts of intimidation and violence and reiterated her call to parties involved in the wage dispute to employ extraordinary measures to end the strike that is now in its 16th week.

Workers affiliated to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) in the platinum belt have been on strike since January 23 demanding a salary of R12 500 a month.

Fears of friction between striking miners and those wishing to resume work arose when Amcu objected to employers approaching miners with their wage offer directly, in a bid to end the strike.

“Ending the strike will be the first step to averting possible job losses and restoring peace and stability as the protracted strike by AMCU has degenerated into a vicious cycle of violence that has resulted in the brutal killings of non-striking workers and destruction of private and public properties,”  Modise said.
Moves to intensify police presence in the area comes after the killing of three miners in the platinum belt near Rustenburg, North West. 

A 60-year-old Lonmin Saffi Shaft male employee was found murdered between Saffi shaft and Bob mine hostel on Tuesday morning. The deceased had multiple stab wounds on his back, chest and ribs.

“It is alleged that the victim was found by the mine security personnel while patrolling the area. No one has been arrested yet and the investigation continues,” said North West spokesperson Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

Ngubane said they were also investigating cases of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm after six males were attacked by unknown suspects in the vicinity of Saffi Shaft where the body of a man was found.
“The motive for the attack cannot be confirmed at this stage, and one of the men was admitted to the mine hospital with serious injuries while others sustained minor injuries,” he said.

In another incident at Legalaopeng Village near Bapong, a 47-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, were found dead at their house on Sunday.
While in Marikana, a middle aged man, who was seemingly a contract worker at Lonmin, K3 shaft, was allegedly burnt to death after he was set alight at his shack at Bighouse Informal Settlement on Saturday.
Ngubane said police were still investigating all the cases.