Cyrilic script
Ramaphosa speaks about that Marikana e-mail
DURBAN: ANC deputy president and businessman Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday urged the business community to be more sensitive to the needs and welfare of workers, saying the Marikana shooting, in which 34 miners were killed, should serve as a wake-up call.
Speaking to the media after addressing a business breakfast held in Port Shepstone, Ramaphosa said many entities, including the government and business, should have done something about the “appalling” living conditions of Lonmin miners in Marikana, in North West.
The victims of the shooting, mostly miners, were gunned down by the police at Marikana in August, resulting in some drawing parallels between the incident and the Sharpeville massacre of 1960. Ten people, including two policemen and two security guards, had been killed in separate attacks a few days before the shooting.
Before the shooting, Ramaphosa, who owns shares in the Lonmin mining company, had sent e-mails to government officials calling for action against criminal activities that had characterised the strike.
He was criticised by some in civil society for this, but he rejected any suggestion that he had called for mineworkers to be harmed, saying he was urging the authorities to clamp down on lawlessness.
Addressing business people yesterday, Ramaphosa referred to the Marikana disaster, saying it pointed to a lack of “inclusiveness” and the need to fight for a future free from the negatives of the past.
He also called for an end to exploitation, where the rich exploited the poor.
“Many entities should have done a lot more about the social conditions of workers. The accommodation of (mine) workers was appalling, and it needs attention. We cannot have a situation where people are exposed to conditions like that,” he said.
However, he said the problem was not only in Marikana, but also in areas such as farms, where the business community needed to play a collective role in improving the living conditions of workers.
“Marikana should be seen as a wake-up call to many business entities.
“It is a turning-point for all of us where businesses were not doing anything about actively improving the living conditions of workers.”
He assured business lead- ers the current leadership of the ANC elected in Mangaung would ensure that the country moved forward progressively, adding that the National Development Plan, of which he is deputy chairman, had mapped a 30-year vision for the country.
In a separate rally, where he addressed thousands of people in uMzumbe on the KwaZuluNatal South Coast, Ramaphosa rejected any suggestion that he, instead of President Jacob Zuma, would lead the ANC election campaign in 2014.
“It is proper that he should lead the campaign because he is the president of the ANC.”
He also welcomed the decision of the ANC Youth League to embrace the newly elected leadership of the ANC.
ANC Youth League Deputy President, Ronald Lamola who shared the platform with Ramaphosa, declared that the youth was fully behind the new leadership.