This what he was referring to:
In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers
The horrific images and the carnage reminded many of the events that took place during South Africa's apartheid era.
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2012-08-15t224918z_24381471.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
Striking miners brandish pangas and fighting sticks outside the Lonmin mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Aug.15, 2012.
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/south-africa-mine-viol8.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
Jon Gambrell / AP
Striking miners gather on a hillside at the Lonmin mine near Marikana, South Africa, Aug. 15, 2012. The strike is part of a bitter turf war between rival trade unions, and even before Thursday's shooting, some ten people had been killed since workers downed tools last Friday.
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2012-08-16t151835z_13851214.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
Policemen line up to confront striking miners outside the Lonmin mine, Aug. 16, 2012.
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/gal_miners_0817.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
A policeman fires at protesting miners outside a South African mine in Rustenburg, Aug. 16, 2012.
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/south-africa-mine-viol3.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
AP
Striking mineworkers throw stones as police open fire at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. Two policemen were reportedly among at least 10 people killed in the clash, in which reports say there may also have been guns fired from among the strikers
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/south-africa-mine-violence-11.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
AP
Police open fire on miners at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012. Police said the miners had refused an ultimatum to disarm, and had resisted efforts to disperse them through firing tear gas and water cannon. Video footage shows the strikers charging towards the police, who are then shown firing wildly into the crowd
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/2012-08-16t144953z_15196439.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
A South African policeman gestures in front of some of the dead miners after they were shot in a confrontation outside the Lonmin platinum mine, near Rustenburg,, Aug.16, 2012.
<img src="
http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/aptopix-south-africa-mine-v.jpg?w=720" alt="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers" title="In South Africa, Police Fire on Striking Mineworkers"/>
AP
In a spectacle that reminded many South Africans of the apartheid past, police stand over the bodies of striking mineworkers killed in a confrontation at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Aug. 16, 2012
34 miners were killed.
http://world.time.com/2012/08/16/in...t-outside-a-south-african-mine-in-rustenburg/