Premier condemns Nkaneng attack

Thandi Modise condemned an attack on a man wearing a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) T-shirt at a rally in Nkaneng, her office said.

Modise called on the police to find those responsible and put them behind bars, she said in a statement.

“The faceless instigators of violence within these communities have to be unmasked and brought to book soonest so that violence does not become a way of life in these communities,” Modise said.

The man was attacked earlier on Sunday while heading to the Wonderkop stadium, where NUM was holding a membership recruitment rally.

Armed police guarded the paramedics who attended to him. He had blood on his chin and cheeks from a stab wound in the neck.

Paramedics put an oxygen mask on him and took him to hospital at speed.

The premier appealed to members of the public to come forward with information that might assist police in their investigations.

She also called on rival unions NUM and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) to desist from acts of provocation, violence and intimidation, and to respect the Marikana peace accord signed on February 25.

Earlier, NUM official Eric Gclitshana told the rally people were being killed for wearing an NUM T-shirt.

The NUM was trying to recruit new members after losing its majority union status to AMCU at Lonmin’s Marikana operation.

The NUM has referred a dispute to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration about the interpretation and implementation of the recognition agreement.

Forty-four people were killed in Marikana last August during strike-related violence at Lonmin. Thirty four of them were shot dead by the police on August 16.

Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, were killed in the preceding week.