South Africa Vows To Clamp Down On Spreading Labor Unrest

Seven people were arrested on Friday in South Africa as labor unrest spreads across the country, South African outlet News24 reported.

Police Brigadier Thulani Ngubane told News24: "We are not going to tolerate it. Ours is to make sure we maintain law and order and that is what we are going to do."

Police fired stun grenades into this latest round of demonstrations outside the Aquarius Platinum mine. No one was reported hurt. News24 reported that Aquarius would be temporarily suspending its mining operations. The nearby Lonmin Marikana mine has been closed for over a month due to the violence.

Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said there would be a forthcoming "crackdown on illegal gatherings" and a ban on carrying weapons, according to Al-Jazeera.

"Our government is making a clarion call to all South Africans to desist from all these illegal acts and must work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that this situation is brought to normality," he said.

He added that "These acts...clearly undermine our government's efforts of ensuring economic and security stability," News24 reported.

Forty-five people so far have died in these protests, which began on August 16 at the Lonmin Platinum Mine as a territory dispute between two rival mining unions.

Union leaders on Friday also rejected a pay raise offer from Lonmin, Reuters said.

"We are not interested," said striker representative Molifi Phele.

The raise brought entry-level pay from 4,600 rand to 5,500 rand, about $660 -- the workers wanted 12,500 rand.

A 30-year-old mine worker named Sibusiso Zozi told News24 that "We dig up platinum but our bosses get more money. We know there is money there."

Zozi also said the workers are treated like dogs.

"To us, [12,500 Rands] is just a basic salary," said Gaddafi Ndoda, a member of what he called the "worker's committee."