South Africa: Families Demand Release of Hundreds of Striking Mineworkers

August 29, 2012 from Associated Press

Some of the South African miners who were arrested at the same protest where police opened fire and killed 34 of their colleagues appeared in court near Pretoria on Wednesday. Friends and relatives demonstrated outside of the courthouse claiming the miners are innocent and demanding their release.

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Marikana miners' strike

The Marikana miners' strike or Lonmin strike was a wildcat strike at a mine owned by Lonmin in the Marikana area, close to Rustenburg, South Africa in 2012. The event garnered international attention following a series of violent incidents between the South African Police Serv... Explore this topic

Lonmin

Lonmin plc, formerly the mining division of Lonrho plc, is a producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Its registered office is in London, and its o... Explore this topic

South Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres of coastline. To the north lie the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mo... Explore this topic

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital. Pretor... Explore this topic

Arrest

An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation or prevention of crime and presenting to a procedure as part of the criminal justice system. The term is Anglo-Norman in origin and is related to the French word... Explore this topic

Miner

A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two conceptions as to what this includes. In its narrowest understanding, "miners" are solely those persons who work at the face cutting, blasting, or otherwise working and r... Explore this topic

South African Police

The South African Police was the national police force in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the de facto police force in the territory of South-West Africa from 1939 to 1981. During South Africa's rule under apartheid, the SAP operated in close conjunction with South Afri... Explore this topic

North West (South African province)

North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng. Explore this topic

Strike

Strike action, also called labor strike, on strike, greve, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the Industrial Revolution, when mas... Explore this topic

Shooting

Shooting is the act or process of firing firearms or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets, and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman. Shooting can take place in a shooting range ... Explore this topic

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Marikana miners' strike

Lonmin

South Africa

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South Africa: Victory for Lonmin Miners? Not So Fast

eNews Channel Africa | Sep 19

While miners celebrated a 22 percent wage increase and the end of their labor dispute at Marikana, Lonmin Platinum Mine announced it is shutting do...