'Nothing to show' after deaths

The man in white Lonmin overalls and black rubber boots is tired, scared and angry.

"The strike is over but the fear, death and intimidation that went with it still hangs over this place," he said about the maze of shacks west of the Marikana mine where he has just come off the morning shift.

Residents of the Wonderkop informal settlement, 29km outside Rustenburg in North West, blame the "ongoing feud" between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the rival National Union of Mineworkers for their anxiety.

The turf war has been characterised by assassinations. The latest victim, a NUM shop steward, was shot dead outside her house near Rowland shaft on Monday. Last month, a 49-year-old Lonmin employee was shot at Wonderkop.

Refusing to give his name, the 37-year-old Mozambican miner said: "It is difficult. You do not know who to trust. People end up dead here because they were seen talking to strangers."

He takes home R5000 a month, he said, claiming he did not get a raise after miners accepted a pay increase of up to 22% last year to end the six-week strike during which the massacre took place.

The father of three said his salary, as a general worker, was not increased and he received only the one-off R2 000 promised to strikers to return to work.

"I was there when people were shot but what do I have to show for it? Nothing. There is a lot of dissatisfaction here and trouble is still brewing," he said.

A winch driver at Karee shaft said though his salary was increased by 10% to R5 390 after the strike, he struggled to support his wife and two children in Eastern Cape.

"I work double shifts twice a week and this enables me to send R3000 home every month. Without the overtime, I would send R1700."

Every afternoon after work, miners gather behind an ANC office in the settlement to discuss their working conditions and salaries.