‘The miners weren’t the only victims’
Families of slain policemen, guards also mourn
A reaction officer carrying stolen goods after a break-in in Durban North.
WHILE the country observed the fourth anniversary of the Marikana massacre this week, families of the victims, including the policemen who were killed, said it had been difficult to move on with their lives.
Elisabeth Maubane, Warrant Officer Tsietsi Monene’s sister, said she was still haunted by the horror of seeing her younger brother’s hacked body lying in the mortuary. She saw him the day after the violent protests claimed the lives of Monene, 47, Warrant Officer Sello Lepaaku, 45, and two security guards Hassan Fundi, 47, and Frans Mabelane, 48.
Maubane of Soshanguve in Pretoria described her shock: “I freaked out when I entered the mortuary. He had been chopped on the back of his head with a panga. I cannot sleep at night. We enjoyed growing up together but all the sweet memories have been flushed out by what I saw in the mortuary when I went to identify his body. It was a moment I will never forget, it was too much to bear. It is pain that his wife and his six children will always feel”.
She said while politicians and officials remembered the death of the Lonmin miners, nothing much was said about the policemen and guards.
“It seems like they deserved to die. His children watched on national television when the angry mob attacked him.”
Maubane said she had attended the Farlam Commission appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate the massacre. However, she found herself confronted with more questions than answers.
“We still want closure. Nobody knows why he was killed. There have been no answers. A lot of emphasis has been given to the miners.”
Maubane said his children had paid tribute to their father by posting his picture on the family’s social network page.
Widow Petunia Lapaaku of Mpumalanga, said her three children had watched in horror when Sello was murdered.
“They saw everything that happened on that day when the miners butchered their father. They are deeply affected. They have nightmares. I also try to avoid talking about Marikana because it is too traumatic for me and my family. Our wounds are still very open.”
Aisha Fundi recounted how her husband’s body had been mutilated on the orders of a sangoma. She said it had been discussed during the hearing but had given her no closure.
“His tongue was cut out and his private parts were removed. They were used for muti-making to scare policemen.
“But even after this disturbing evidence, the media still focused on the plight of miners. Our pain has been forgotten.”
Fundi, who works at the mine said her three children were angry and refused to work at the mine.
“I work there because I have no choice. I need to survive.”
Nokuthula Zibambele from the Eastern Cape, whose miner husband was killed, said they were all victims of the Marikana tragedy and they were all mourning the loss of their loved ones.
Zibambele also works at the mine to support her family. She said the process of compensating families was going at a snail’s pace. She said having to work at the mine and walk over the koppie where her husband died was unbearable.
“As soon as I get compensation I will leave, I cannot take it anymore, this place has bad memories. I feel cursed being here because this is where his life ended. Sometimes I hear his piercing screams.”
She said his children had not been told what had happened to their father because they were too young to understand.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa confirmed that it had established a trust fund to support the victims, including the policemen’s families and the security guards’. He said he expected the roll out of the housing project to start in Mqanduli next week.
“We are building proper three-bedroom houses for them, not some RDP matchboxes. We want them to take pride in their new family homes. The idea is to realise our commitment to build each family a house.
“This will benefit members of the National Union of Mineworkers too because the commission made it clear that nobody should be left out of the process,” Mathunjwa said.
He also repeated his call made earlier that Zuma, as president, should apologise for the massacre.
“It happened under his leadership that so many people died on a single day. This will haunt him forever, but if he toughens up and issues an apology he will have a clear conscience and find sleep at night,” he said.
Mathunjwa said their struggle had not been in vain as slow progress had been made in addressing the issue of salaries. He said general workers with an entry level of R4 000 were now earning R8 000, which he said was a great improvement.