Arrested miners’ jobs safe - Lonmin

Reuters

Miners dance after being released outside the court in Ga-Rankuwa, near Pretoria, on Monday.

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North West - The arrested Lonmin Marikana mineworkers will not be fired, the company said on Tuesday.

“The workers are not dismissed and will be allowed back at work,” Lonmin spokeswoman Sue Vey said.

She said the company would wait until all the legal proceedings were concluded before deciding what to do.

The 270 miners were arrested for public violence during violent protests at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana in the North West last month.

Last week, prosecutors said the men would also be charged with the murder and attempted murder of 34 of their colleagues on August 16, but after a public outcry the charges were provisionally withdrawn.

About 50 of the miners were released on warning by the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate's Court late on Monday. They were welcomed by their colleagues and briefed.

Mineworkers formed a united front on Tuesday and reiterated that they wanted nothing other than a wage increase.

“The so-called peace accord can come later. We want R12,500

now,” said workers' representative Zolisa Bodwani.

The accord is supposed to be agreed on by all the parties. It includes creating a safe work environment and workers surrendering their weapons.

“We told them workers do not have the so called dangerous weapons that management is so afraid of, but knobkerries. The only weapons we see are guns carried by the police,” said Bodwani.

Talks were expected to resume on Wednesday in Rustenburg.

African People's Convention leader Themba Godi was expected to speak to the workers. - Sapa