Remembering the chaos, tragedy of massacre

It all starts with a tense standoff that will end up in slaughter.

Hundreds of police officers watch thousands of striking mineworkers gather on a barren hill near Marikana mine, run by the world’s third-largest platinum company, Lonmin. Some protesters hold spears, machetes and wooden clubs.

It’s August 16, 2012, and tensions have been running high for days at the site, about 100 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. Ten people have already died since a wildcat strike broke out after pay talks ended in deadlock.

The miners want their monthly salary tripled to R12 500. But the firm has rejected their demands.

Strikers are dissatisfied with their representation, as a battle for dominance between rival unions plays out in the background.

‘Today we end this ma er’

As morning arrives, police prepare to break up the protest.

“Today we are ending this matter,” Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo tells journalists.

Over the previous days, workers who haven’t joined the strike have been harassed, with one stabbed to death going to work.

Several strikers, two police officers and two Lonmin security guards have also been killed in confrontations.

Hundreds of police officers with assault rifles and armoured vehicles are patrolling the area.

Just before 4pm, after hours of waiting, police start rolling out barbed wire fencing to push miners away from the hill.

Chaotic scenes ensue. Police fire teargas and stun grenades. Groups of miners seek escape routes while others attack police vans with spears and stones.

Suddenly a small group of strikers appears between some bushes and an armoured vehicle, marching towards the line.

Hail of bullets

In front of the cameras, security forces open fire. Hundreds of rounds crackle through the air before, about 10 seconds later, an officer yells “cease fire”.

The hail of bullets throws up a blanket of dust. As it settles, the lifeless bodies of more than a dozen miners appear on TV screens nationwide. Some are injured and jerk in agony. No paramedics are there to help.

Away from the cameras, several other workers are gunned down in unclear circumstances.

Independent researchers later conclude some were shot while fleeing or attempting to surrender. The final death toll is 34 workers with 78 more wounded.

No one charged

It was the worst massacre since the end of apartheid in 1994 and for many South Africans, it brought back memories of the brutal killings of black protesters that took place under white rule.

No police officers died or were seriously wounded on the day.

An official inquiry would later put much of the blame for the deaths on police tactics.

Ten years on, no one has been charged over the massacre. –