Marikana could have been avoided

Thanks to Sowetan for a piece on “remembering Marikana”.

For me, the Marikana tragedy should have never happened if workers were taught about what workers unions are supposed to do.

Communication all round leading up to that fateful day could have been better.

To avoid the whole tragedy needed calm heads. The involvement of politicians was also very unfortunate.

So many wrong things happened in Marikana that should serve as an eye opener.

Workers unions have no business fighting each other. In actual fact, different unions should be a united front in order to maximise workers’ benefits.

No one should be killed for deciding to go to work. Killing of cops and security guards should never have happened. We shouldn’t even be talking about that fateful day where miners were gunned down.

Policing on the day could have been better handled. The fact that [former police commissioner] Riah Phiyega got into trouble proves that policing on the day left much to be desired.

The aftermath of that tragedy was always going to be painful for the families of the dead miners.

Reading stories about what has since happened to their children is heartbreaking.

Death of a breadwinner is always hard for everyone who depended on them. The Children of dead Marikana miners are no exception. Some of these children had to grow up overnight. They had to step out of their comfort zones.

As peace loving South Africans we hope that if anything that resembles the Marikana tragedy rears its head again, we handle it differently. Richardson Mzaidume

Pimville