South African Police Fire Rubber Bullets at Striking Farm Workers

Farm workers blocked a highway in the area with burning tires

South African police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at striking farm workers who blocked a highway in the grape-growing Western Cape on Wednesday, the first clashes of a year likely to be marked by fractious labor relations.

The strikers had piled burning tires across the main highway through the town of De Doorns, 100 km (60 miles) east of Cape Town, to demand higher wages, a Reuters reporter said.