South African prosecutors have charged 270 mine workers with the murder of 34 of their colleagues who were on strike despite the fact they were shot dead by police.

Police said they acted in self defence when they opened fire on workers at a platinum mine north-west of Johannesburg.

It followed a stand-off that had already killed 10 including 2 police officers.

The incident was the worst day of police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid rule in 1994.

Authorities said the 270 detained workers would face trial for the murder of their colleagues in a decision panned as ‘madness’.

Prosecutors have filed papers invoking a measure called “common purpose” seldom used since the dying days of apartheid.

They argue that the miners were complicit in the killings since they were arrested at the scene with weapons.

Legal experts said the move will likely collapse when a court hearing bail applications for the 270 near the mine resumes sessions next week and lambasted prosecutors for inflaming a tense situation by seeking a mass indictment that will eventually be rejected.

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