Marikana residents don't trust ANC, mines & government ahead of 2024 elections
Although the North West province is the ANC's stronghold, poor-performing municipalities, coupled with a lack of service delivery and jobs have turned some ANC supporters against it.
MARIKANA - Eleven years years after the Marikana massacre, voters from the North West community have a distrust in government, the African National Congress (ANC) and mining companies.
On 16 August 2012, police shot and killed 34 striking mineworkers and left 78 others seriously injured.
The incident remains one of the most brutal acts of state violence in post-apartheid South Africa, and during this registration voter weekend, it was still on the minds of many residents.
READ: ANC working actively to root out corrupt officials, says Ramaphosa
The North West remains an ANC stronghold, with the party controlling the provincial legislature and all municipalities.
However, poor-performing municipalities, coupled with a lack of service delivery and jobs have turned some ANC supporters against it.
[WATCH] In Marikana, ANC supporters face the difficult task of having to vote for Cyril Ramaphosa - a man they still deem partially responsible for the massacre that took place here in 2012
' EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) November 19, 2023
Nokuthula Nondonga is a lifelong ANC supporter but has no love for the ANC President. TCG pic.twitter.com/uV5vju4WK1
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ANC supporter Thapelo Goaoketse says the conditions that made the miners go on strike in 2012, have only worsened since: "Even in the community, the people are angry with the ANC. They don’t want to hear anything about the party.
"The ANC also does not bring anything to the community. We don’t have water and electricity from the municipality, nothing whatsoever."
Maditlokwa resident Keamogetswe Maphosa said the ANC government is not holding mines accountable for environmental degradation in the area.
