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AP
Farmers spray water as they try and save around 18,000 empty fruit containers from burning after being set alight by farm workers in Wolseley, South Africa, on Nov. 14. Violent protests by farm workers have erupted in South Africa after weeks of unrest in the country's mining industry. The workers have been protesting their wages, saying they want a minimum wage of $17 a day. Currently, workers make about half that amount a day.
AP
South African Police arrest farm workers after they went on a rampage in Wolseley, South Africa,on Nov. 14.
AP reports -- Down a two-lane road, where slag heaps tower and miners' shack homes crowd against each other, the labor unrest now gripping South Africa first caught fire.
Mining companies here outside of Rustenburg, a city about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, saw workers walk off the job and continue to demand higher wages, even after violence during six weeks of strikes and a mass police shooting at one mine killed 46 people. The strikes recently spread to agriculture, South Africa's other major economic engine, as day laborers burned farms and fought with police Wednesday in violence that left at least one person dead and five others injured.
The unrest has shaken South Africa, a nation now free from apartheid-era laws, but not of its legacy of economic disparities between whites and blacks. And though the grip of the strikes appear to have loosened, the damage done to South Africa's anemic economy could last even longer.
Wednesday, their protest turned violent as workers set fire to some farms, overturned a police truck and confronted officers in riot gear in the country's Western Cape. The police fired tear gas to drive away protesters, as the sounds of gunshots could be heard in local television footage.
One man was killed in the violence "as a result of police action," police Lt. Col. Andre Traut told the South African Press Association. At least five other people were injured.
Rodger Bosch / AFP - Getty Images
Members of the South African Police Services run after some people, during a farmworkers strike, on Nov. 14, in Wolesley, about north of Cape Town, South Africa. South African police on Wednesday said one person was killed and five others injured as protests by farm workers demanding higher pay descended into violence, prompting calls for the military to be deployed. A week-long protest by farm workers spilled over into bloodshed with chilling echoes of recent mining unrest that has claimed more than 50 lives. "We can confirm the death of a 28-year-old man in Wolseley and five others wounded," Lybey Swartz of the Western Cape police told AFP.
AP
The remainder of 18,000 empty fruit containers after they were set alight by farm workers in Wolseley, South Africa, on Nov. 14.
AP
A South African Police truck that was overturned by farm workers after they went on a rampage in Wolseley, South Africa, on Nov. 14.
Rodger Bosch / AFP - Getty Images
Fruit bins burn at a packing store on Nov. 14, in Wolesley, South Africa. The fire, which burnt more than 15,000 wooden bins is thought to be connected to the farm workers strike.
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Import some mexicans.. they work harder than lazy blacks.
You get lazy Mexicans, etc too .... lets not be racist !
It is good to see South African workers working hard at turning their nation into another failed African state.
( Are these people totally stupid ?! )
Yep if the Blacks rise up and drive out the whites they'll starve and the country will be like every other black controlled country in Africa. It will be tribal warfare ,crimminal gangs and anarchy. That is a fact it happens everytime. The blacks in the US are so lucky that they were relocated and set up here. I did'nt help the US but it sure did all those Black peoples ancestors a big favor. These are facts( its not a racial thing) to bad if they are not politically correct.
unfortunately we just have to sit back and see how they take our countr, our families, farms, work etc etc. if we do anything to defend our property or family we are locked up as murderers. please pray for us!! that is why so many SA'cans leave this beautiful country of ours. for real truth about what is happening in SA go to
There are precious few who are aware of the Boer Genocide taking place in SA. That story will never been told on this new channel. Even though you love your country, get out while you can. The USA has plenty of room and we need you here!
yes we just have to sit back and let them destroy our country, our farms, our families,our jobs etc. if we do anything to protect that is ours we wil end up behind bars. so that is why so many SA'cans leave this beautiful country. pray for us!!
for real truth about what is happening in SA go to
There are south African black people who work as nurses doctors accountants etc. Opportunity exists if they are willing to sacrifice and raise themselves up. Are the farm workers feeling the pinch yes and are they working for slave wages yes. People in the USA who earn minimum wage are working for slave wages. But if you delay child bearing work hard study hard and have a healthy mind with a bit of luck they can make it out of the slave wage cycle. Violence will not have the desired result for these poor workers. They will suffer and die never realizing their true potential. Sadly even if the farmers were to pay more that would not stem the growing unrest.
@ fight for freedom, I agree on most points
When you lash out in an unintelligent fashion, you aren't going to make progress. These farm laborers have been a problem for years. Never are they seeming to be at ease with trying to make it better, they just want more and more. I am not going to say their wage is just, as I am not sure, but burning down your place of employment and going after the owner and his family with machetes and spears seems like the wrong way to go.
Tracy I would agree that violence does not have a positive history of bringing about positive change. These people do have a legitimate complaint as do the millions of Americans trying to survive on minimum wage. When you see American companies making record profits and Americans can't feed their children properly then you know there is a serious problem. The problem with violent revolutions is that after the dust settles the old guard comes back in and sets up shop again. What was won through blood and tears is stolen again from people. It appears that the human species is hot wired toward violent behavior. I hope one day our species can finally move toward an ethical base that is used to solve social problems.