Goats slaughtered for Marikana dead
ARMED with a knife and a sacrificial goat, Andile Yawa is back in Marikana in North West to plead with his late mine worker son Cebisile to “stop fighting and go home”.
As yesterday’s chilly dawn broke, the 56-year-old Eastern Cape father stood at the exact spot where his son and 33 fellow Lonmin miners were gunned down by police.
His mission: to offer the goat’s blood for the peace of his son’s “fighting” soul.
“My boy, rest in peace. Your fight is over. Lay down your arms. Don’t fight any more, go in peace,” Yawa prayed in a hushed tone as he faced the 34 white crosses at the foot of Wonderkop koppie.
“It is important we do this because I believe the reason death still haunts this place is because the people who died here are still fighting,” Yawa said.
He said the co-workers of those killed, who had dreamt of their dead fellow miners, reported returning to work soon afterwards.
“Two have already committed suicide here on the hill. This [cleansing] should have been done long ago,” Yawa said.
National police commissioner Riah Phiyega told the Farlam Commission last week that two police officers involved had since committed suicide.
The R1-million ceremony was, however, marred by controversy after disagreement over where the rituals would be performed surfaced shortly before the slaughter began.
Four families complained that they were told each would cleanse the exact spot where their loved ones fell instead of a mass ritual at the koppie.
The family of Warrant Officer Sello Lepaku – one of the two policemen hacked to death prior to the massacre – boycotted the ritual.
“We are not going to participate. We feel that the culture of those in the majority is imposed on us,” Lepaku’s widow, Petunia, said.
Bojanala District mayor Louis Diremelo said the four families would be assisted to conduct their rituals as they deemed fit at a later stage.