South African union leader shot dead at Lonmin mine

A union leader was shot dead and another wounded at a Lonmin platinum mine in South Africa on Monday, the company and union officials said, amid heightened tensions after deadly strikes at the mine last year. The local shaft leader "was killed in front of the union offices", said National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) regional spokesman Mxhasi Sithethi. Lonmin confirmed the shooting incident at the NUM's offices in the mine's residential area. "Information at this stage is that two employees of Lonmin have been shot, one fatally and the other is in a critical condition," the company said in a statement. It said it is "appalled and horrified at this senseless violence" and called for calm. The shootings at the Marikana mine near Rustenburg, northwest of Johannesburg, follow the assassination of a leader from the NUM's rival union, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), last month. Deadly violence, illegal strikes and union rivalry have plagued South Africa's restive platinum belt since last year. Last August, police shot dead at least 34 striking miners in a single day at the Marikana mine. On Monday, two unknown men approached the NUM leader as he emerged from a meeting around 10:00 am (0800 GMT) and fired at him, said Sithethi. "There was no confrontation. Nothing," he said. "He ran back to the office. They followed him and killed him." The victim, whose identity has not been released, suffered at least two gunshot wounds to the head. The attackers then shot the union treasurer at least six times when he confronted them, said Sithethi. The treasurer is in "critical condition" in hospital, according to NUM's secretary general Frans Baleni. Sithethi claimed 13 spent bullet cartridges were found on the scene. The police and mine management were not immediately available for comment. The NUM and AMCU are locked in a fierce battle for members -- and bargaining rights -- on the restive platinum belt. Thousands of AMCU members went on a two-day illegal strike after their regional coordinator was shot dead mid-May. Two brothers, reportedly linked to the NUM, were killed on the same weekend shortly after the AMCU leader's assassination. The NUM, an alliance partner of South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, used to be the dominant union in the platinum belt. But its membership in the region has dwindled in the last year amid mineworkers' accusations its relationship was too cosy with mine management. The union lost 44,000 members nationally to the AMCU in the last two years, it said at the end of May, though local media put the figure at 70,000. The AMCU now has 70 percent representation of Lonmin's 28,000 workers, and has lobbied aggressively to have the NUM's offices at the mine shut down. A labour court last week halted the eviction until July 16 to allow NUM to prove its has regained the majority membership. The NUM's national spokesman Frans Baleni said he "can't speculate" if the turf war with the AMCU caused Monday's killings. But the union has also lost majority status at neighbouring mines Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum in the world's top platinum-producing region. Mining and related sectors account for around 20 percent of Africa's largest economy and 60 percent of exports. It is the country's largest private sector employer, and its unionised workforce is a large source of votes for the ANC. President Jacob Zuma last week last week made a call for calm in the mining sector after economic growth hit a fresh low.