It’s been 12 years since the butchering of mineworkers at the hands of the police following calls allegedly by then board member of Lonmin, Cyril Ramaphosa, who described the labour dispute as “dastardly criminal” and called for “concomitant action " to be taken against striking Lonmin mineworkers.
The workers were protesting over a wage increase and little has changed for the victims, their families as well as the entire Marikana community.
The EFF said the massacre served to underscore the naked truth that South Africa's post-apartheid reality that black lives are expandable in the pursuit of profits, adding that this showed that a capitalist system will stop at nothing to crush those who resist it.
"The families of the fallen have been dragged through the courts, seeking compensation that will never bring back their loved ones. And yet, justice remains elusive. There has been no apology from President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose hands are drenched in the blood of Marikana. He, who was complicit in the massacre, has shown no remorse, no acknowledgement of his role in the slaughter of black workers," the EFF said on Friday.
This week, the Socio Economic Rights Institute (Seri) reported that only 129 of the 315 Marikana tragedy victims had received a payout totalling “a mere” R71 million. According to the Office of the Solicitor-General, some families continued to live in abject poverty following the death of their loved ones.
This comes as the country commemorated Marikana's 12 anniversary following the death of 34 miners on August 16 2012. Seri's executive director, Nomzamo Zondo, in a statement ahead of this year's anniversary, indicated that at least 129 people, including all 11 family members of the slain Thobile Mpumza, were yet to receive money meant for the victims of the deadly massacre, adding that this was something the Office of the Solicitor General chooses not to publicise.
"By so doing, the State has, over the years, reduced addressing the Marikana massacre to a purely financial exercise. Having failed to reach a settlement on the outstanding pleas of the family’s civil claims, the matter will be argued before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria," Zondo said.
According to Seri, the denial of accountability has become a consistent theme in the criminal case against the State where on August 16, about 400 deployed police officers enclosed the miners at the koppie with a barbed wire fence.
Zondo added that the miners — who were peacefully dispersing, but were shot at by the police who fired at them with R5 rifles capable of automatic fire at “scene 1”, killing sixteen miners — were still suffering and poor.
“Despite police efforts to tamper with ‘scene 2’, we now know that the police pursued and killed another16 miners, many of whom had their hands in the air, visibly surrendering and retreating.
“Only nine officials have faced criminal charges, all of whom have pleaded not guilty, and four have been acquitted for matters relating to the circumstances of Mr Segalala’s death. Six officers are currently standing trial for the crimes relating to the events of August 13, 2012 in which three miners and two police officers were killed. No one has been charged for the events of August 16,” said Zondo.
However, on Friday, the Justice Department said it had paid more than R352m in compensation to the victims of the 2012 massacre.
Justice Minister Thembi Simelane said the department was committed to finalising the matter, including a pending decision from the Gauteng High Court on constitutional damage.
"We have resolved most of the aspects of the Marikana matter, with the exception of the constitutional damages currently under Gauteng High Court consideration," she said
In an interview with broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, Joseph Mathunjwa, president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) slammed the government, saying the State had sacrificed the poor workers.
“This could not have happened in a democratic state. This is worse than Sharpeville massacre because at Sharpeville it was the Nationalist Party and apartheid government. This was our government that we put in power killing its own people, protecting resources that are foreign-owned,” he said.
According to an SABC news, report scores of Marikana mineworkers revealed that their living conditions remained dire and hopeless, more than 12 years since the tragedy.
“More than 12 years since the tragedy, we are still struggling in terms of accessing basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation. We are still struggling as nothing has changed for us," the mineworkers told the SABC on Friday.
Early this year, The Star visited the area and reported that the situation remained unpredictable as scores of young people hoping to earn a living felt deprived of opportunities. Their only hope was securing work at the mine, as there were few to no other opportunities elsewhere.
Saturday Star