JOHANNESBURG, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Platinum producer Lonmin fears that sacking 3,000 striking South African mine workers, who face a Tuesday deadline to report back to their posts, could lead to more violence after police last week shot dead 34 miners in scenes reminiscent of apartheid bloodshed.
Most of the strikers stayed off the job, saying they had sacrificed too much to return. Police helicopters hovered over Lonmin's Marikana mine, about 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, while heavily armed officers patrolled the property.
The world's third-biggest platinum producer Lonmin said about a third of its 28,000 workers at the Marikana mine had returned to work - not enough to extract ore.
Thousands of workers remained off the job due in part to lingering safety concerns and uncertainty if there would anything for them to do since the 3,000 strikers were mostly rock drill operators who are at the front line of breaking up the masses of underground stone
Crowds of workers, watched closely by police, gathered near the site of the shooting, ignoring the company's threat of punishments that could ultimately lead to job losses.
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