Miner would’ve been a grandpa

Thelejane’s son wishes he was still alive to hold granddaughter

Had mineworker Thabiso Thelejane and his fellow colleagues not been fatally sprayed with bullets during the Marikana massacre five years ago, he would have experienced the joys of being a grandfather.

Marorisang, the wife of Thelejane’s son Kopano, gave birth to a bouncing baby girl, Palesa, three months ago.

When Palesa grows up she will only get to know about her grandfather from pictures and stories that her family members will narrate about him.

She will live her whole life without ever experiencing the love of her grandfather, who was a rockdrill operator at Lonmin and died aged 55.

“He was a good father. Our family would want for nothing [when he was still alive],” said Kopano.

“When I heard that my father had been killed in Marikana I was very heartbroken because he and I enjoyed a warm father-son relationship. He was my best friend. We shared and spoke about everything,” he said.

He expressed sadness that his daughter would grow up without her grandfather.

Thelejane died after police opened fire on a group of striking mineworkers at Marikana, leaving 34 mineworkers dead and 78 wounded.

The Lonmin platinum mine workers had embarked on a wildcat strike demanding a