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drone warfare

Pepper-spray drone offered to South African mines for strike control Desert Wolf, maker of Skunk Riot Control Copter, says aim is to 'prevent another Marikana' – the strike when 34 workers killed

By David Smith - The Guardian, June 19, 2014

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A South African company has built a drone designed to shower pepper spray on unruly crowds and says it has begun supplying units to an international mining company.

Desert Wolf claims it wants to help in "preventing another Marikana" – a reference to a protest in August 2012 at which 34 striking mineworkers were shot and killed during clashes with the police.

But the "Skunk Riot Control Copter" was condemned by labour activists as "absolutely outrageous" and compared with deadly US military drones in Pakistan.

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