A conflict between competing groups in a mine located in Johannesburg’s East Rand, South Africa, caused the death of seven illegal miners, about a week ago. Besides the fatal victims, also 12 other men got seriously injured.
The local police was alerted on the past Sunday (July 28th) to a violent fight between the groups, which was occurring at an underground shaft of the Brakpan North mine.
According to official sources, the scuffle involved guns and extreme violence. Surprisingly, the rescue operations were still going on at the mine on Tuesday morning.
However, this wasn’t an isolated case. As reported by Reuters, another miner was shot dead near Marikana platinum mine, run by Lonmin, feeding the already huge tension in the country.
In the meanwhile, according to AAP, a South African labour union has drawn out majority control at the world’s richest platinum mines. This is jolting the industry and could be potentially bad for the African National Congress. The dominance by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union comes after its major role played last year, during the violent strike that saw police shoot dead 34 miners.
Via mining.com