It's an election year for the ruling party, the African National Congress. Zuma wants a second term as party leader.

Shadrack Gutto, a political analyst says "there have been a lot of bad decisions in his term... he mustn't take it as a given he will win."

This latest unrest started in the platinum sector last month and has now spread to the lucrative gold mines.

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports.