More than 2,000 workers remain underground for a second day in a protest over wages and benefits at a South African platinum mine
Cape Town, South Africa — More than 2,000 workers remained underground for a second day Tuesday in a protest over wages and benefits at a platinum mine in South Africa.
The mine is owned by Implats, which is one of the largest platinum mining companies in the world. The company has suspended operations at its Platinum Bafokeng Rasimone mine near the city of Rustenburg and is calling the protest illegal.
Representatives of the National Union of Mines went underground to meet with the workers, but the protest “remains unresolved”, Implats said.
There were no immediate details on how much the workers are being paid.
More than 2,200 workers started the protest, but 167 had returned to the surface by Tuesday night, Implats said. Workers are in two shafts at the mine in the North West province, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the capital, Pretoria.
South Africa is by far the largest producer of platinum in the world.
Such protests are not unusual. There were two recent underground protests at a gold mine in the town of Springs, near Johannesburg, in October and earlier this month. In both cases, hundreds of workers remained underground for days amid claims some were holding others hostage in a dispute over which union should represent them.
The Rustenburg area where the platinum mines are concentrated is the site of one of South Africa’s most gruesome episodes. In 2012, police killed 34 miners in a mass shooting after a prolonged strike and days of violence at another platinum mine in nearby Marikana. Six miners, two police officers and two private security guards were killed in the days before the shootings.
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