Miners End Strike

South African coal mineworkers today ended a 10-day strike after reaching a pay agreement with employers, their union said, relieving pressure on the country's strained power supply.

South Africa's AMCU union declared a five-month platinum strike "officially over" on Monday, bringing to an end the longest work stoppage in the country's history. Miners are expected to return to work this week.

The world's largest platinum producers and striking South African miners were holding last-ditch talks under government mediation Monday in a bid to end a crippling five-month strike.

After a round of fresh talks yesterday, a negotiator had announced in the afternoon that the workers had settled for a 22 per cent wage rise and a USD 245 one-off bonus from the owners of the world's third largest platinum mine.

South Africa's Defence Minister apologised on Tuesday to angry miners who held up plastic packets of bullet casings, the first government official to beg forgiveness for the police shootings that killed 34 striking miners, wounded another 78 and shocked the nation. It was the most deadly display of state violence since apartheid ended in 1994.

Miners must return to work on Monday or face being fired from the platinum mine where rivalry between unions exploded into violence that led to the deaths of 44 people in a week, Lonmin PLC said on Sunday. 34 strikers were gunned down by police in one of the worst displays of state violence since apartheid ended in 1994.

The police killing of 34 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche on Friday, with searching questions asked of its post-apartheid soul.

South African police opened fire Thursday on a crowd of striking miners that charged a line of officers trying to disperse them, killing some and wounding others in one of the worst shootings by authorities since the end of the apartheid era.

South African coal mineworkers today ended a 10-day strike after reaching a pay agreement with employers, their union said, relieving pressure on the country's strained power supply.

South Africa's AMCU union declared a five-month platinum strike "officially over" on Monday, bringing to an end the longest work stoppage in the country's history. Miners are expected to return to work this week.

The world's largest platinum producers and striking South African miners were holding last-ditch talks under government mediation Monday in a bid to end a crippling five-month strike.

After a round of fresh talks yesterday, a negotiator had announced in the afternoon that the workers had settled for a 22 per cent wage rise and a USD 245 one-off bonus from the owners of the world's third largest platinum mine.

South Africa's Defence Minister apologised on Tuesday to angry miners who held up plastic packets of bullet casings, the first government official to beg forgiveness for the police shootings that killed 34 striking miners, wounded another 78 and shocked the nation. It was the most deadly display of state violence since apartheid ended in 1994.

Miners must return to work on Monday or face being fired from the platinum mine where rivalry between unions exploded into violence that led to the deaths of 44 people in a week, Lonmin PLC said on Sunday. 34 strikers were gunned down by police in one of the worst displays of state violence since apartheid ended in 1994.

The police killing of 34 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche on Friday, with searching questions asked of its post-apartheid soul.

South African police opened fire Thursday on a crowd of striking miners that charged a line of officers trying to disperse them, killing some and wounding others in one of the worst shootings by authorities since the end of the apartheid era.