JOHANNESBURG: South African police arrested 26 mine workers yesterday after fresh clashes that saw one officer attacked by a machete-wielding striker.
Police said they expected to make further arrests at the Samancor chrome mine about two hours drive from Johannesburg, after “a police constable was hacked with a panga on his left arm.”
Police said they deployed early yesterday to the mine — which is not far from the Marikana mine were 46 people died in violence in August — to “disperse a strong group of unruly striking workers.”
Around 3,000 people were thought to be involved in the protest, which turned ugly when police moved in.
“The Constable sustained serious injuries on his left arm. He was rescued by other police officers, who then rushed him to Pedlaray Hospital for medical treatment.”
One suspect has been charged with attempted murder.
It is the latest spasm of violence to grip South Africa’s vital mining sector, which for months has been rocked by sometimes deadly labor unrest.
Miners are demanding higher wages and better working conditions, which employers say are unreasonable.
S. African police arrest 26 amid fresh clashes with miners
