THE weekend killing of a senior member of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in the town of Northam triggered a wave of violence that prompted JSE-listed Northam Platinum to shut its mine.Northam had stopped sending employees underground at its Limpopo mine on Sunday evening because of heightened tension in the area after the man was shot dead on Sunday afternoon, CEO Paul Dunne said.A second person was stabbed to death during a clash between rival NUM and Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) groups on the road between Northam town and the town of Thabazimbi on Monday, police spokeswoman Ronel Otto said.Police firing rubber bullets had dispersed the two groups had been dispersed, she said."It’s quiet there now," she said late on Monday afternoon.The Zondereinde mine, at which the NUM is the dominant union, contributed about 280,000oz of platinum group metals to the group in the 2015 financial year.Mine management and the police were due to meet the leadershi...
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