There is renewed violence in the platinum belt of Marikana, and union leaders are pleading with authorities to effect arrests to stop the bloodbath.

As bodies continue to pile up in the area amid renewed conflict, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa has pleaded with Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to help quell the violence.

Yesterday, Mathunjwa said he had written to Mbalula because the union had "lost trust in the local police for failing to make arrests in the ongoing killings".

This comes after Tuesday's killing of Tholakele "Bhele" Dlunga, bringing the body count to seven since July.

Mathunjwa likened violence in Marikana to the political killings in KwaZulu-Natal.

"We have also requested a meeting with minister Mbalula to demand his urgent and immediate intervention to fast-track the prosecution of those murdering our comrades in the platinum belt," he said.

"People are being killed - since 2012 - and nothing is being done. Our situation is no different to the ongoing political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, however, there we see police raiding hostels and making arrests," he said.

Mbalula's spokesman Vuyo Mhaga said he was not aware of the letter from Amcu.

Mathunjwa said Marikana had become a killing field, and nine Amcu members have been killed there since 2012.

North West police spokesman Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said no arrests had been made on Dlunga's killing.