Cyril’s Marikana apology ‘too little, too late’

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has come under sharp criticism from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) for his “too little, too late” apology for the Marikana tragedy.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim questioned why Ramaphosa had not used his skill as a negotiator as a former trade unionist to find a solution to the Marikana labour dispute that ended in the massacre of workers in 2012.

He said the deputy president belonged to the same government that now refused to compensate the widows of the massacre victims.

“He now dares to apologise, almost five years after the fact, and at a time when it’s politically expedient for him,” Jim said.

A total of 34 striking mineworkers were killed when police opened fire with live ammunition – an act that sparked widespread criticism of the government and police chiefs. The Marikana Commission of Inquiry was appointed to investigate the disaster but there is still a dispute regarding the compensation of the families of those who died and were injured in the incident.

Jim said although Ramaphosa was a director at Lonmin at the time of the tragedy, apartheid-style conditions existed, with workers being paid “slave wages”.

Jim said Ramaphosa’s actions a few days before the massacre were telling. He said an e-mail described the strike by Lonmin workers as “dastardly criminal acts”, which required “concomitant action” from authorities.

At the weekend, Ramaphosa publicly apologised for the “unfortunate language” he used at the time, but stressed that he never had the intention to have the strikers killed.

“Ramaphosa’s apology, nearly five years later, is no more than empty words. There is no substance whatsoever to his expression of regret,” said Jim.

He said the labour dispute, which sparked the violent strike, was precipitated by poor wages and the miners’ terrible working and living conditions.

“Ramaphosa’s past experience as a trade unionist and founder of NUM did nothing to improve the conditions. Under his watch as a Lonmin executive, the majority of miners lived, and continue to live, in the same hovels which existed under apartheid.

“In fact, his proposal of a R3 500 salary spits on the graves of the martyrs of the massacre. The only way he can redeem his blood-stained legacy would be to propose a minimum wage of R12 500.”

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