Murder follows murder at platinum mine

08 June 2016 - 09:27 By SHAUN SMILLIE

Mthetheleli Zefunele never saw his killer. The man who shot him put a single bullet in the back of his head as he was walking down a road.The member of the committee of the Zondereinde branch of the National Union of Mineworkers died where he fell, close to the four-way stop where the R510 and the Brits road intersect in the mining town of Northam, Limpopo.Witnesses to the shooting on Sunday said his killer fled down the Brits Road towards the Pick n Pay supermarket.Zefunele's murder led to the closure of the Zondereinde Platinum Mine and sparked the unrest that resulted in a man being stabbed to death with an assegai on Monday. Both NUM and Amcu have claimed Monday's victim as a member. There was a heavy police presence at the entrance to the mine yesterday after clashes between two rival unions the day before.Colonel Ronel Otto said two vehicles were set alight during the unrest, which police estimated involved about 300 people.Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, claimed that the mine had sanctioned an attack on his union's members.The mine's management said the aim of its security service was purely to prevent violence."Management doesn't want Amcu on the mine," Mathunjwa said, while rejecting claims that Amcu played a role in Zefunele's death."If someone is killed in town on a Sunday, why is this considered a workplace issue? Why conclude that Amcu is involved? The police must be given time to investigate," he said.According to NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu, four of the union's members were killed last year...

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