SAfrica truckers stage protest in Johannesburg

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- Hundreds of striking truck drivers are protesting amid heavy police presence in central Johannesburg.

The truckers, who are demanding a 12 percent pay raise, are expected to march Tuesday to the nearby Braamfontein district, where they will submit a petition to the transport bargaining council, according to the South African Press Agency.

The protest march is part of South Africa's current labor unrest in which strikes have spread to several gold, platinum and chrome mines, damaging investor confidence in a country that is among the world's top producers of valuable minerals.

In August a wildcat strike by platinum miners led to police shooting dead 34 striking miners on Aug. 16, a level of state violence not seen since the end of apartheid in 1994. The police shootings are being investigated.

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