The former union leader - Cyril Ramaphosa , from his position on the board of Lonmin , could have argued for negotiation , even for a better deal for the workers . Instead - as a chain of emails released to the Farlam inquiry disclosed - he argued for the police to move in . In a message to fellow directors , he wrote : " The terrible events that have unfolded can not be described as a labour dispute . They are plainly dastardly criminal and must be characterised as such ... There needs to be concomitant action to address this situation . " The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union 's Joseph Matunjwa said that the protests were in response to poor pay : " As long as bosses and senior management are getting fat cheques , that 's good for them . And these workers are subjected to poverty for life . After 18 years of democracy , the mineworker is still earning 3,000 South African Rand – approximately $ 360 under those harsh conditions underground . " On the afternoon of 16 August , members of a contingent of the South African Police Service , from an elite special unit , opened fire with assault rifles ( R5 rifles ) , on a group of strikers . Within minutes 34 miners were killed , and at least 78 were wounded . The incident was the single most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since the Sharpeville massacre during the apartheid era
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre
Marikana massacre