Twenty-two striking Anglo Platinum mineworkers were injured on Tuesday morning when police fired rubber bullets to break up a roadblock outside a mine near Rustenburg, North West police said.
About 500 protesters started gathering outside the mine from about 4am and barricaded the entrance to the mine, said Captain David Serepa.
As non-striking workers arrived for duty they were allegedly pulled out of their vehicles and forced to join the strike, he said.
About 30% of Anglo Platinum workers are on a pay strike with workers seeking an increase of 8,5% against the company’s offer of 7,5%.
At about 8am they began throwing stones, so police decided to use rubber bullets to quell rising levels of aggression, said Serepa.
Twenty-two people were taken to the Bleskop hospital for treatment to “minor” injuries.
Police believed not all the injuries were from the rubber bullets and many of the protesters were injured while running through the veld to get away.
About 50 traditional weapons were confiscated and police were still investigating the source of gunshots which came from the direction of the protesters.
By 1.30pm the protesters appeared to have dispersed but about 70 policemen were monitoring the situation to see if there would be another protest ahead of the afternoon shift. – Sapa
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