The Lonmin strike ended on 18 September, when a collective wage agreement was signed which secured an average wage increase of 11 to 22 per cent for Lonmin mineworkers; after six weeks, the strikers returned to work on 20 September. In the interim, however, similar wildcat strikes, often with identical wage demands and sometimes leading to further violent clashes, were initiated at other mines across South Africa. This wave of strikes led President Jacob Zuma to deploy the national military to the platinum-mining belt in mid-September and collectively made 2012 the most protest-filled year in the country since the end of apartheid.
