
Lonmin
Things fall apart: A timeline of events leading up to the Marikana massacre
On the 16th of August 2012, protesting miners working at Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, Rustenburg were gunned down by police.
Speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri) on Wednesday night, Aisha Fundi - whose husband, Hassan, was hacked and burnt to death - said that the president’s promised visit was now long overdue.
Ten years on, the authorities are yet to action the majority of the binding recommendations that were put forward by the Farlam Commission of Inquiry established to probe the tragedy.
Lawyers representing those who were wounded during the wildcat strike at the Lonmin Mine in Marikana in 2012, said they were disappointed that the president had not admitted to wrongdoing on his part.
Government, trade unions and labour analysts agree that the country’s labour relations have stabilised, to a great extent, since the deadly Marikana strike 10 years ago.
Historians have opened up about how the culmination of the strike in a massacre was chillingly reminiscent of the mass killings of protesting black people by the apartheid police in many areas, including Sharpeville in 1960.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been asked about the outstanding matter of compensation for the families of those killed.
Advocate Dali Mpofu represents miners who were injured or arrested. He said that apart from monetary compensation, Ramaphosa and the mine, now called Sibanye, must do right by those affected by the tragic events of 16 August.
Monday, 16 August marked exactly nine years since 34 miners were shot dead by police in Rustenburg.
Executive director of Amnesty International South Africa, Shenilla Mohamed, said that the widows of Marikana and the public in general needed closure in the form of accountability from government.
The Marikana massacre gave mineworkers an opportunity to choose a union that they believed best represented their interests rather than stay with majority unions.
The Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri) has argued that poor leadership and weak levels of police accountability persist despite the lessons presented by the Marikana massacre.
It’s understood the workers affiliated to NUM and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) have been at loggerheads for the past seven years.
Cosatu announced Thursday that it would visit the North West informal settlement with President Cyril Ramaphosa in October.
This would be the first time that President Cyril Ramaphosa and Cosatu visit the area since the Marikana massacre in 2012.
Thousands of people gathered at the koppie in Marikana on Friday to remember those who were killed during a wage strike seven years ago.The event was organised by mining union Amcu. At least 34 miners were gunned down by police on 16 August 2012.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was cleared by the Farlam Commission for his role in the tragedy, said the country remembered the 44 people who lost their lives in Marikana.
A lesson from the 2012 massacre of mineworkers is the need for government to retain its role as primary governance agent, enforcing clear rules and ensuring the provision of public goods and services.
At least 34 miners were gunned down by police on 16 August 2012.