MARIKANA REMEMBERED
EFF LEADER Julius Malema launched a scathing attack on the ANC government, going as far as labelling President Jacob Zuma “brainless”.
Malema was speaking at the third anniversary of the Marikana massacre yesterday.
Thousands of people gathered at the Nkaneng informal settlement in Marikana near Rustenburg to commemorate the 34 miners who were killed three years ago.
They were killed by a “murderous regime led by the ANC and it’s brainless president”, Malema told the crowd.
He accused Zuma of being indifferent and failing to act with urgency to resolve the matter.
“No one has been charged for the murder of the 34 people. Zuma wanted it (the state) to be seen to be doing something by having a commission.”
He extended his attack to Lonmin chief executive Ben Magara who attended the commemoration and was sitting a few steps from the podium.
“He must know that he will only be one of us the day he pays workers R12 500.
“Being black does not make you progressive. You can be black and still be white on the inside like the chief executive and (Deputy President) Cyril Ramaphosa,” he said to the cheering crowd.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa accused Lonmin of failing to meet its obligation of taking care of the children of the dead miners.
“We received word from the people on the ground who we sent to check on the condition of the children. What they said disappointed us. How can Lonmin put these kids in one classroom while they are sharing the same pain of losing their fathers?” It’s not considerate. What you said you would do was a PR exercise when you look at what you actually did,” Mathunjwa said.
One of the widows of the miners who were killed, Nolundi Thukuza, said the day brought back painful memo- ries of seeing her husband being gunned down three years ago. She said Lonmin had given her and other widows jobs but that would not replace their husbands.
“Our hearts break every time we see other men going underground because our husbands are no longer there and they did the same for us,” Thukuza said.
“The government and Lonmin needs to pay us so we can go back home. Our kids do not have anyone to look after them because we are here working.”
Thukuza was hired as a general cleaner in October and said she earns R8 000 a month.
She disagreed with the outcome of the Farlam Commission which implicated only national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega and North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo.
“Nobody knows who killed our husbands. The commission was meant to help, but it didn’t. Lonmin needs to turn the koppie into a heritage site and erect a tombstone with the names of the 34 engraved on it, so that the country and the world never forgets what happened,” she said.
One of the survivors, who has a bullet lodged in his head from three years ago, demanded the arrest of Phiyega, former police minister Nathi Mthethwa, former minerals and resources minister Susan Shabangu and Zuma for the shooting.
Lungisile Madwasi was one of 40 miners who were injured but not detained on the day of the shooting.
“I have a bullet in my head that doctors can’t remove. Phiyega, Shabangu, Mthethwa and Zuma need to be arrested for the roles they played. We have told our lawyers to do everything in their power to make sure they bring them to justice.”
Advocate Dali Mpofu gave the crowd a summary of the 336 claims amounting to more than R1 billion launched against Lonmin, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Mthethwa and Ramaphosa. He said the inquiry’s finding would be contested in court.
Mpofu said the legal advisers for the Marikana survivors and widows would also be laying criminal charges against 12 people whom he dubbed “the dirty dozen”.
“The government needs to stop dragging this matter on. It needs to sit down with those who were affected and compensate them,” Mpofu said.
Government needs to stop dragging out the issue