THE gruesome discovery yesterday of a body in an open space near where striking Lonmin miners have been gathering since Monday did not deter thousands of miners from gathering to hear their leaders speak - completely ignoring the body lying several metres away.
The unidentified body of a man in black clothes found in Nkaneng informal settlement in Marikana by a television crew was lying face down with two deep cuts at the back of the neck.
"I saw the body but we did not turn it over to see who it was. Our leaders have warned us to stay away from the body," said a striking miner who did not want to be named.
The body was found in the afternoon as the miners returned from their march to the local Andrew Saffy Memorial Hospital, where they were met by a strong contingent of police forming a barricade, preventing them from reaching the hospital.
One of the workers' leaders, Loyiso Mtsheketshe, said they had wanted to instruct the hospital to stop discharging injured miners into police custody.
Armed miners prevented journalists and photographers from getting closer to the body.
"I can confirm that a body of a man was found 300 metres away from where the miners usually meet, on the western side of the koppie," said police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.
Ngubane said the man, wearing black pants, appeared to have been hit with a sharp object at the back of his head.
He said police were at the scene and it was not known what had happened to the man.
Body of a man found after march by miners
THE gruesome discovery yesterday of a body in an open space near where striking Lonmin miners have been gathering since Monday did not deter thousands of miners from gathering to hear their leaders speak - completely ignoring the body lying several metres away.
The unidentified body of a man in black clothes found in Nkaneng informal settlement in Marikana by a television crew was lying face down with two deep cuts at the back of the neck.
"I saw the body but we did not turn it over to see who it was. Our leaders have warned us to stay away from the body," said a striking miner who did not want to be named.
The body was found in the afternoon as the miners returned from their march to the local Andrew Saffy Memorial Hospital, where they were met by a strong contingent of police forming a barricade, preventing them from reaching the hospital.
One of the workers' leaders, Loyiso Mtsheketshe, said they had wanted to instruct the hospital to stop discharging injured miners into police custody.
Armed miners prevented journalists and photographers from getting closer to the body.
"I can confirm that a body of a man was found 300 metres away from where the miners usually meet, on the western side of the koppie," said police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.
Ngubane said the man, wearing black pants, appeared to have been hit with a sharp object at the back of his head.
He said police were at the scene and it was not known what had happened to the man.
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