"Shock at latest mining murder - unions blame zama-zamas", 1 Oct 2017

A senior mine employee has been shot and killed as violent clashes in South Africa’s mining industry escalate...This week union and company bosses called for the government to get to the bottom of the killings...Simphiwe Kubheka, regional general manager at Harmony Gold Company’s Tshepong operation near Odendaalsrus in the Free State, is the latest victim. He was shot and killed on his way home on Thursday. Illegal mineworkers, also known as zama-zamas, are rumoured to be behind Khubeka’s death.  His murder comes hot on the heels of the increasingly brutal murders of mineworkers in the platinum belt in the North West...United Association of SA (Uasa) spokesperson Andre Venter blamed a combination of poor leadership and anarchy. “Speculation that Kubheka was murdered by illegal gold-miners speaks to how unemployment, poverty, greed and weak leadership push South Africa ever deeper into anarchy,”  Venter said on Friday...Harmony Gold said it was investigating Khubeka’s murder and had tightened up security at its operations...Illegal mining is a hot potato, with Sibanye Gold, South Africa’s biggest gold producer, in June reportedly dismissing 99 employees and placing 407 others on final warnings after an illegal strike at Cooke mine triggered by zama-zamas. Sibanye said the employees had been fired after ignoring the company’s ban on food supply to underground workers, aimed at stemming illegal mining. The company said 77 employees had been arrested this year for assisting illegal miners.