Making ammends for Marikana

Vicky Somniso-Abraham

Sounds of hammers pounding the nails into wood are heard at the construction site in Marikana Extension Two in Rustenburg as men in overalls and safety helmets put together the roofing of reconstruction development programme (RDP) houses for members of the community.

These are men who have been hired to restore the dignity of the mineworkers and the community of Marikana by building descent houses and rental flats for them. Unfortunately, the mineworkers will not be able to occupy the houses as they earn above R9 000. They will only be able to rent the flats currently under construction.

The five-hectare Marikana Extension Two land on which the flats are being built belongs to Lonmin, which donated it to the department of local government and human settlements.

The Marikana Human Settlements project will cost government R462 million. The government aims to build a total of 2 658 dwellings, including 535 RDP houses, 2 089 subsidised rental flats and 34 finance linked individual subsidised programme (Flisp) houses.

Lonmin spokesperson Happy Nkhoma said the company had looked into the issues that contributed to the tension at the time of the Marikana massacre.

“We decided we needed to address these issues very quickly, and housing was one of them. The issue that our workers are highly indebted is another, because no matter how hard they work, how much they earn ... they still can’t make ends meet,” said Nkhoma.

Nkhoma said while the company planned to address the issues of its workers but the community, with its own problems of unemployment and housing, would not be neglected.

He added that the company was a victim of its own success in that its employees were paid at far above the government RDP house qualification level.

A subcontractor on the project, Eric Mondleki, said the project started last year in October. He said it would be completed in September.

The project was proceeding in two phases, Mondleki said. “I am very excited because for us this is a great achievement for the people of Marikana.”