Marikana – A union leader has been shot dead at Lonmin’s Marikana mine, almost a year after police shot dead 34 strikers on the restive platinum belt.

“This morning she was fatally shot next to our offices,” said National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka on Monday.

A blanket covered the woman’s body where she was shot dead outside her house on the mine’s Western Platinum division at 10:00, an AFP journalist witnessed.

“This shop steward woman was an important worker in the union,” Seshoka added.

A string of assassinations have marked the rivalry between NUM and its militant rival the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu).

The death comes just days before South Africa marks one year since police opened fire on striking miners.

– AFP