NUM says branch leader at Lonmin unit shot dead

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Friday that its branch chairman at Eastern Platinum Mine, a unit of Lonmin, was shot by unknown assailants and subsequently died in hospital. The shooting is the latest in a spate of such incidents on the platinum belt, which has been the scene of an often violent turf war between NUM and its arch rival the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), underscoring the social risks of investing in South Africa's mining sector.