Striking South African workers have rallied to press Anglo American Platinum to revoke its decision to fire 12,000 wildcat strikers.

Nearly 50 people have been killed since August in a labour conflict in the mining sector, and President Jacob Zuma's ANC is struggling to contain the worst social unrest since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Several hundred workers, watched closely by police, held a rally close to the platinum belt hub city of Rustenburg, 70 miles northwest of Johannesburg, and were urged to fight for their jobs.