After three weeks of wildcat strikes against their wages, 12,000 South Africans at Anglo America Platinum were fired Friday. The incident is one of many in a string of wildcat strikes that have hit the region. The ANC Youth League—a branch of Africa’s Congress—said it was “deeply disturbed” to learn the company fired the workers whose “blood, sweat, and tears” helped them reap astronomical profits. Earlier Friday, officials denied accusations that a striking protester had been shot dead by police. A commission of inquiry into the 34 protesters shot and killed by police Aug. 16 began earlier this week.