Marikana miners regroup

File picture - Policemen keep watch on the protesters outside a South African mine in Rustenburg, 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, August 16, 2012. South African police opened fire against thousands of striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, leaving several bloodied corpses lying on the ground. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

File picture - Policemen keep watch on the protesters outside a South African mine in Rustenburg, 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, August 16, 2012. South African police opened fire against thousands of striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, leaving several bloodied corpses lying on the ground. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Published Aug 17, 2012

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Rustenburg - Several hundred men have begun to gather at the outskirts of a rocky outcrop at the Lonmin mine in Rustenburg on Friday afternoon after 34 protesters were gunned down there this week.

According to reports at the scene, the men held a meeting inside a nearby village earlier in the afternoon.

After their meeting the men tried to make their way to a hill where a shootout occurred between protesting mineworkers and police on Thursday.

However, the men were cut off by the police. They eventually kept their distance at the edge of the village.

After the men emerged, a group of women who were protesting against the police in the afternoon began to take off their clothes.

“They are showing the police that they are not afraid of them and that they don't have respect for them anymore,” Mmatshepiso Mohlomi, one of women at the scene said.

The group of women sang: “I have given birth to a child and the police have killed him”.

Several helicopters circled the area throughout the day. - Sapa

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