On the Deaths of South African Mineworkers

On the Deaths of South African Mineworkers


(Two Takes)

Police Open Fire on Protesting Mine Workers in South Africa

By Brian Finnegan

AFL-CIO Now

August 17, 2012

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Global-Action/Police-Open-Fire-on-Protesting-Mine-Workers-in-South-Africa

An on-going industrial conflict escalated into
tragedy yesterday as police opened fire on a group of
protesting workers at the Marikana Mine and
surrounding area in Rustenburg, South Africa,
about 50 miles from Johannesburg. The platinum
mine is owned by U.K.-based Lonmin. The violence
has taken 38 lives and injured more than 75 people.

The AFL-CIO extends deep condolences to the
families and friends of all those who have lost their
lives in this latest violence. The AFL-CIO also joins
global unions International Trade Union

Confederation (ITUC), IndustriALL and South
Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in
calling for calm to return to the platinum mine and
demanding a full and thorough investigation from
law enforcement. Lonmin needs to ensure calm and
safety is restored so that miners can return to work.







AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, a former mine



worker himself, was appalled by yesterday's events



at the Marikana Mine:







Once again, mineworkers who produce so much



wealth under often dangerous daily working



conditions have paid the highest price-their lives- in



a completely avoidable industrial conflict. We send



our deepest condolences to the families of these



workers and call on the South African government



to take immediate action to address the brutality.







The Central Executive Committee of the Congress of



South African Trade Unions (COSATU) will convene



an urgent meeting of the unions' leadership to



discuss a coordinated strategy among its affiliates to



strengthen their response to this tragedy and



challenge to workers' unity and strength.]



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Miners' Wives Rage at South African Police Brutality after 'Massacre'







By David Smith



Guardian (UK)



August 17, 2012







http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/17/miners-wives-rage-south-africa-killings







Nosisieko Jali's husband is missing. She has heard



a rumour that a bullet hit him in the head, yet he



survived. One witness said all his clothes were torn.



"I don't know where he is," said Jali, numb with



anxiety. "The hospital wouldn't let me come inside. I



am hurting."







Jali is among scores of wives at the Lonmin



platinum mine in Marikana still waiting to discover



if their husband is in a jail, hospital or mortuary



after one of the bloodiest days in South Africa since apartheid.







Thirty-four people were killed and 78 injured on



Thursday when police with automatic rifles, pistols



and shotguns opened fire on the strikers, many of



whom were armed with spears, machetes and clubs



as they demonstrated for higher wages. The



shocking images, beamed to TV viewers around the



world, provoked comparisons with massacres by the



white minority regime of the country's past.







On Friday, next to the killing field, wives took the



place of their dead and wounded husbands to stage



an angry, emotionally charged demonstration. The



women raged against police brutality, mine



exploitation and a lack of official information that



has left them agonisingly in the dark.







"How can we know whether people are dead or



missing?" demanded Nowelcime Bosanathi, 35. "My



husband went to the protest with a stick. I worried



he might be dead. Then he called last night to say



he's in a police van and he doesn't know where he's



going. Now his phone is on voicemail."







Waving sticks, whistling and ululating, the women



performed the apartheid-era toyi-toyi dance up and



down a dirt road. They sang songs, some mournful,



some defiant, warning: "When you strike a woman,



you strike a rock" and invoking the memory of



heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle such as Oliver



Tambo. They joined hands in a circle for a soulful



rendition of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, the national



anthem and originally a hymn. They kneeled before



police armed with shotguns and sang "What have



we done?" in the Xhosa language.







The group of about 100 women also brandished



homemade cardboard placards with handwritten



slogans condemning the police. "Police stop



shooting our husbands and sons," one said.



Another, referring to the new national police



commissioner, Riah Phiyega, read: "Piega you



celebrating your position by blood of our families."







Primrose South, 51, was still waiting for news about



Mishack Mzilikazi, 35, who lives on her property



and is considered part of the family. "I last saw him



at 8am on Thursday. He was going to work with his



phone but now it's off. He also had a stick and he



was quiet.







"I don't know where he is now. He could be in



prison or he could be dead. I don't know."







She added: "We are feeling bad because the children



now are crying, are hungry, are afraid even to sleep



at night. The wives have no husbands now. Their



husbands are lying dead in the forest."







Whatever did happen here there is no shortage of



blame - and competing accounts. The women point



at the police and the Lonmin mine management.







South, who works as a mine store manager, said:



"The management sent the police to kill our



husbands, brothers and sons. But we will fight for



our rights like them."







Many of these women followed their husbands from



Eastern Cape province or neighbouring countries



such as Lesotho, Swaziland or Zimbabwe. They live



in the nearby Nkanini settlement in cramped shacks



with pit toilets and an intermittent water supply.



Above one of one of the world's richest platinum



deposits, goats wander in adjacent scrubland strewn



with discarded plastic bags and rubbish.







They denied that the workers had opened fire first



and said a turf war between rival unions was a



sideshow to the dispute over pay.







The unions are scrapping for members. The National



Union of Mineworkers, a supporter of the ANC, had



signed up to a pay deal with Lonmin. But the



militant Association of Mineworkers and



Construction Union (AMCU) rejected this and



pushed for wages to be trebled. This comes amid a



wider debate on whether the governing African



National Congress (ANC) should curb mine owners' power.







The youth league of the ANC argues that



nationalisation of the country's mines and farms is



the only way to redress the injustices of the past.



The youth league said: "South Africa's exploitative



mining regime, capitalist greed and the poverty of



our people is the cause."







For its part, Lonmin announced that it would



provide support to all the families that have suffered



loss this week. Simon Scott, its chief financial



officer, said: "We have established a help desk at



Lonmin's Andrew Saffy Hospital, which will help



families with the identification of bodies, assist with



all the burial arrangements and offer bereavement counselling.







"Lonmin commits to provide funding for the



education of all the children of employees who lost



their lives. This funding will cover education costs



from primary school to university."







The company's London-listed share price slumped



9% early yesterday, though it ended 1.3% down at



639.5p. It plunged to a nine-year low on the



Johannesburg exchange, where it is also listed.







The South African Institute of Race Relations called



for the immediate suspension of all police officers



involved in the shootings.







It said: "There is clear evidence that policemen



randomly shot into the crowd with rifles and



handguns. There is also evidence of their continuing



to shoot after a number of bodies can be seen



dropping and others turning to run.







"This is reminiscent of the Sharpeville massacre in



1960," it said.







The police, though, insisted they acted in self-



defence, arguing that the mine workers even



possessed a pistol taken from a police officer they



are alleged to have beaten to death on Monday.







At least 10 other people were killed during the week-



old strike at the mine,80 miles north-west of



Johannesburg, including two police officers said to



have been battered to death by strikers and two



mine security guards.







It was into this highly charged atmosphere that



President Jacob Zuma stepped, having cut short a



visit to a regional summit. He announced that a



commission of inquiry would be held into the



tragedy. "This inquiry will enable us to get to the real



cause of the incident and derive the real lessons



too," he said during a visit to Marikana.







"We've all been saddened and dismayed by the



events of the past few days and hours around the



Marikana mine. The loss of life among workers and



members of the police service is tragic and



regrettable.







"These events are not what we want to see or want



to become accustomed to in a democracy that is



bound by the rule of law and where we are creating



a better life for all our people.







"Today our thoughts are primarily with the families



of those who have lost their lives. As a government



and as fellow citizens, we offer our sincere



condolences to families who have lost their loved



ones. Our thoughts are also with those who are



recovering."







He continued: "The events of the past few days have



unfortunately been visited upon a nation that is



hard at work addressing the persistent challenges of



poverty, unemployment and inequality.







"We undertake this work in conditions of peace and



stability, working with all sectors in our country.







"We assure the South African people in particular



that we remain fully committed to ensuring that this



country remains a peaceful, stable, productive and



thriving nation, that is focused on improving the



quality of life of all, especially the poor and working



class.







"It is against this background that we have to



uncover the truth about what happened here."

He went on: "Today challenges us to restore calm
and share the pain of the affected families and
communities.

"This is not a day to apportion blame. It is a day for
us to come together as a nation. It is also a day to
start rebuilding and healing."







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