A memorial service for the people who died during the Marikana massacre at Gracepoint Methodist Church on 16 August 2021. Picture: Neil McCartney
Today marks 12 years since 34 mineworkers were shot during their protest in 2012, in what is now known as the Marikana massacre.
The mineworkers were shot on 16 August by police who were apparently trying to disperse the striking Lonmin mineworkers demanding a salary of R12 500 a month.
A week before the massacre, 10 people, including two police officers and two Lonmin security guards, were killed.
The government established the Marikana Commission of Inquiry to investigate the killings. It recommended a full investigation to hold police officers involved in the killings accountable.
Twelve years later, no one has been convicted for the killings.
According to the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri), the Marikana massacre was the most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since the Soweto uprising on 16 June 1976.
Seri has been at the forefront of the legal battle between some of the families of the mineworkers and the state.
In August last year, Solicitor-General Fhedzisani Pandelani announced that the government had paid more than R330 million in claims related to the Marikana massacre.
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Payments were disbursed to claimants through their legal representatives, including the Wits Law Clinic and Seri.
“Unfortunately, the state continues to hold the line they took during the strike: the concerns of the mine and capital matter. The cries of the families of those they killed do not. Once again, we are calling on the state to acknowledge both the humanity of the deceased miners and what was taken from their families,” said Seri in a statement.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has paid tribute to the killed mineworkers.
The massacre happened in August, just five months after EFF leader Julius Malema was expelled from the ANC, allegedly for sowing division and bringing the party into disrepute.
It was during his visit there that the mineworkers asked him to start his political party.
“The blood of Marikana has stained our nation, and the echoes of those gunshots continue to haunt us. This was the culmination of the systemic dehumanisation that black mineworkers have suffered for centuries,” said the EFF.
ALSO READ: How the Marikana massacre gave birth to the EFF
“The massacre revealed the naked truth of South Africa’s post-apartheid reality: that black lives are expendable in the pursuit of profit, and that the capitalist state will stop at nothing to crush those who dare to resist.
“Twelve years have passed since that fateful day, yet the wounds remain open. The mineworkers who survived continue to toil in exploitative conditions, fighting the same battle for a living wage. The conditions in the mines remain unchanged, a testament to the continued exploitation of black labour.”
The party has vowed to never let the sacrifices of the mineworkers be in vain.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has yet to visit the area, 12 years later.
Answering questions at Luthuli House three years ago, Ramaphosa said his visit to Marikana needed more planning as the families of the killed mineworkers were still waiting for answers.
“The Marikana issue has been raised with me a number of times. We just want to get full agreement from various stakeholders on the way forward. A Marikana visit is still on my radar. As you know, I’m not one to run from problems. I will go,” he said at the time.
ALSO READ: ‘I’m not one to run from problems,’ says Ramaphosa on Marikana visit
In July 2022, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that Ramaphosa did not bear legal duty for the massacre.
The case was brought by family members of the mineworkers seeking to hold Ramaphosa liable for the massacre.
The court ruled that email communications from Ramaphosa did not seek to call for the murder of the striking workers.
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