Its first leader was Cyril Ramaphosa, under whom it grew rapidly, winning bargaining recognition from the Chamber of Mines in 1983.

[5] On 10 August 2012, thousands of NUM members began a series of wildcat strikes at Lonmin's Marikana mines linked to demands for increased pay.

[6][7][8][9] It is said in the media that the killing of two striking miners was a central reason for the breakdown in trust within the union amongst workers.

[14][15][16][17] On 16 August, police opened fire on a group of miners who had gathered on a hill near Nkaneng, at least 34 people were killed at Marikana, 78 were injured and 259 were arrested.

According to the Congress of South African Trade Unions, police had first used tear gas, water cannons and then used "live ammunition".

[20][21][22] Revelations on the incident starting with academic investigations[citation needed] and then followed up by reporting by Greg Marinovich[23] has shown that most of the killings happened off camera many minutes after some of the murders were recorded on television.