This Friday marks the first anniversary of the Marikana massacre, when 34 men were killed after police opened fire on striking mineworkers near Lonmin PLC’s mine in the North West province. And while preparations to mark the first anniversary of the massacre have been fraught with bickering between rival unions, this week also marks the anniversary of another mining strike massacre in South Africa.
See http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-08-14-marking-the-anniversary-of-two-mining-massacres-so-much-remains-the-same/#.Ugs71ZIwoZE
Marikana, one year later: the hell above and below ground
It is a year since the event that shook South Africa to its core. There is no need to belabour what occurred in the dusty veld of Marikana on 16 August 2012, other than to say it was the first massacre by South African security forces in a democratic epoch.
See http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-08-16-marikana-one-year-later-the-hell-above-and-below-ground/#.Ug2mqm0yQvQ.
Justice eludes Marikana miners a year after massacre
Mzoxolo Magidiwane hobbled on a crutch down the gravel path to his home past the hill where he was shot seven times a year ago when South African police fired on striking mineworkers in their most lethal use of force since the end of apartheid. “Nothing has changed for this place, for these people,” Magidiwane, 25, said at his one-room corrugated-iron shack in the Nkaneng shantytown at Lonmin Plc’s Marikana platinum complex, where the violence took place on Aug. 16, 2012. “The truth needs to be known so justice can be done.” No one has been charged in the deaths of 34 people and the wounding of 78. A judicial inquiry into the violence has stalled because victims and their families can’t afford to pay for lawyers. Disputes continue over wages at the mine, where three days ago a female shop steward was shot dead. In the immediate aftermath of the killings, criticism focused on the police and President Jacob Zuma’s government and prompted Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service to downgrade South Africa for the first time since the end of white minority rule in 1994. South Africa has the world’s largest known reserves of platinum and chrome.
See http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-political-economy?oid=201138&sn=Detail.
Marikana prepares to honour the fallen
Friday marks one year since 44 people were killed in Marikana during a strike for higher wages at platinum miner Lonmin. A memorial is planned and the warring unions say they want to put an end to the continuing bloodshed. Little has changed, but both the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the National Union of Mineworkers say they are serious about giving peace a chance.
See http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-08-14-marikana-prepares-to-honour-the-fallen/.
Another week, another murder in Marikana
As preparations continue for the first anniversary of the Marikana massacre, another murder has been reported in the community. The bitter legacy of last year’s strike endures as NUM’s shop steward at the Rowland shaft was shot dead, one more victim in the never-ending war season.
See http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-08-13-another-week-another-murder-in-marikana/.
Farlam commission’s credibility on the rocks
The Marikana massacre inquiry’s integrity is at stake as it remains postponed while victims seek funding and yet another worker is killed at the mine.
See http://mg.co.za/article/2013-08-13-marikana-farlam-commissions-credibility-is-on-the-rocks.