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A MURDER INVESTIGATION has been launched after the death of a man in Co Down.
The incident happened in the Carrivekeeney Road area of Newry yesterday.
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A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder in the aftermath of the killing.
He remains in PSNI custody.
Detective Chief Inspector Eamon Corrigan has appealed to anyone with any information which could assist detectives with their enquiries to contact them in Newry on 101.
Information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
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Seamus, that comment shows a lot of ignorance on your behalf. Those workers had every right to strike. Nothing happens in South African mining without government ministers being paid off. Those workers were working in unsafe and terrible conditions for poor wages and the government just turned a being eye. Zumu coming out with condolences. His own nephew got a contract to run a huge mine in South Africa despite the fact his nephew had no experience regards mining yet he was among company directors that got through contract. The mine shut down two years later after they sold all the scrap metal at the mine and 5,500 workers didn’t get paid and lost their jobs. RIP those poor souls.
Love how everyone here shoots off the hip condemning the South African police for their actions and jumps on the on-line “activism” bandwagon. At the end of the day the police were put in a very ugly situation that lead to very nasty consequences. Do not get me wrong as I am not condoning the loss of life that occurred that day as this was a tragedy that could of and should of been avoided. But one has to look at the facts of the situation which led to this tragic event.
Having lived in South Africa for several years I followed this story very closely on theJournal, Reuters, Al jazeera, News24.co.za and Citypress.co.za. As I am sure like everyone else I was rather disturbed by what happened that day. I must also say that theJournal did neglect to mention some key facts that led to this tradegy which I feel have painted the South African police force in a bad light in the eyes of the Irish public.
First off, this “protest” had been going on for 10 days prior to the Lonmin Mine massacre. There were 2 worker unions involved that led to this which were;
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM): which has been around since the 1980′s and the largest affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Traditionally over the years the ANC has garnered massive support from NUM and COSATU in terms of voting power for elections.
The second being the newly formed Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) as this group of workers believed the NUM and the ANC did not represent their best interests at heart.
During those 10 days the miners gathered on the hill to protest, negotiations with the union(s) and Lonmin Mine broke down. This was due to inter-union fighting on who should represent the miners and their best interests. In the preceding week to the massacre 10 people had already been killed. This included 6 unionised miners, 2 mine security guards and 2 South African Police officers. At this point some 3000 miners had gathered on the hill, with a majority of them armed with spears, pangas(machetes), knobkerries and knifes.
Note the 2 mine security officers had been butchered to death, disarmed and set a light in their security vehicle. The next day, 2 police officers approached the miners asking to disarm them and remove the now deceased security guards firearms. The miners led the 2 police officers to the top of the hill where the guns had been kept. The 2 police officers themselves were then butchered to death, stripped naked and also disarmed.
The day of the massacre police approached the so called “peaceful protesters” with water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd from the hill. Some 300 police officers were involved in the operation. They had to deal with a 3000 strong & hostile crowd that clearly had no disregard for life, were not willing to back down and were not willing to negotiate. The fact remains that while the police were attempting to disperse the miners with the use of non-lethal force, the miners themselves responded by outflanking the police and charging at them with their spears, machetes, pangas and even firing at them with the guns they had taken off the security and police officers. This unfortunately led to the very brutal police response were police opened fire to defend themselves.
You have to ask yourself at what point does one still call this a “peaceful protest”?
Is a protest still a protest when the protesters themselves injure and kill people?
Or is it now a full on militant riot group that has absolutely no disregard for the life and even the law for that matter?
Imagine for minute, here in Ireland a group of SIPTU members barricading themselves into Liberty hall armed with spears, machetes, broken bottles and the odd Shillelagh. Imagine that same group, killing 2 security officers, 2 Garda and 6 other union workers. Not such a “peaceful” protest now is it? How then would you think the Guards would approach this situation? Should the Army be called in? What is an acceptable level force that can be or should be used by the powers at be to resolve peace or a broker a deal with this militant group? How would the Guards react or the Army for that matter if they too were shot at and charged upon? How would you react?
Yes the miners had every right to protest for better wages, better working and living conditions. But they did not have the right to take the lives of the 2 security officers, 2 police officers and 6 other union miners in aid of their demands, this is clearly not civil whatsoever and in no shape or form a peaceful protest.
So to all you “online activists” leaving comments on here condemning the South African police, perhaps read a bit deeper into the situation next time, put yourself in their shoes and look at both sides of the story before you publicise your narrow minded biased opinion to the world.
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