South Africa?s largest platinum miners? union is demanding a meeting with the President, saying that the government is ignoring violence against workers. The union said that they are prepared to stop mining, a move that would cause problems for the country?s economy. A wave of strikes last year led to similar actions in other industries. Amplats, one of the country?s biggest platinum companies, said that they were laying off 6,000 workers last week, in part because of a loss of profits from the earlier strikes.
See "Mine union threatens to bring South Africa to ?standstill?", Xola Potelwa, Reuters, May 16, 2013