After 10 years, unions, families of Marikana massacre victims demand justice

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - Unions and the families of 34 mineworkers gunned down by police during a strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in South Africa’s North West province 10 years ago said Tuesday they have not received justice.

“No one has been arrested for the massacre. Why is the international community silent and has not unleashed sanctions on the ruling ANC (African National Congress) government?” Joseph Mathunjwa, head of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMC) said in an address to hundreds gathered to commemorate the massacre.

Police opened fire on hundreds of mineworkers on Aug. 16, 2012, in the small mining town of Marikana while they were striking for a monthly minimum wage of 12,500 rand ($761) from British mining giant, Lonmin. They also wanted better living conditions.

Ten people were also killed a week before the strike, bringing the number of those who lost their lives to 44.

More than 70 others were injured during the melee that sparked national outrage when it was broadcast live on television.

“The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says it can act if they are given sufficient information, but 10 years is a long time they should have had the information,” said Verushka Memdutt, national coordinator of the Right to Know (R2K) Campaign while appearing on Newzroom Afrika, a local broadcaster.

Mathunjwa blamed the ANC-led government for not changing ownership of the mines to benefit Black South Africans.

He said when the ANC took over the government from the apartheid regime in 1994, it left mines to continue to be run by white-owned companies who continue to exploit black workers who receive little salaries and live in poor temporary housing.

“We are now demanding 20,000 rand as minimum wage ($ 1,218),” he said to cheers.

One of the widows of a deceased miner said: “It is 10 years since the massacre. Where is the justice for our late husbands. Why hasn’t president Cyril Ramaphosa visited us ever since the incident,” adding that police who opened fire remain free.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said it “remains aggrieved that a decade on, the families of the deceased (miners)are still awaiting compensation and that the culprits remain at large.”

COSATU said if the country is to build a law-based society, then the law must be seen to be applied to all, without fear or favor, and without fail.