Union pledges homes to Marikana victims’ families

FAMILY of the famous “man in the green blanket” shot dead by police at Marikana will become the first of the families of 34 victims who will have decent new homes built by their union.

The Association of Mineworkers (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa was speaking to the family of Mgcineni “Mambush” Noki, 30, at their simple rural home in Thwalikhulu village between Mqanduli and Coffee Bay yesterday.

Mathunjwa said he would remember Mambush as a brave man and as a hero. He said speculation in the media that he had been a warlord was untrue.

Mqanduli-born Noki and his green blanket featured prominently in the media during the build-up to the police shooting of the Lonmin strikers in 2012.

Mathunjwa, officiating at a sod-turning ceremony at Noki’s home, said Amcu, through the Marikana Massacre Amcu Trust Fund, would build his family a three-roomed house with a lounge, a dining hall and a flush toilet.

The union leader arrived to a rousing welcome from Noki’s relatives and other villagers. Youths jostled to take a selfie with the famed leader.

Earlier, Mathunjwa told the Mambush family that his life was saved by Noki’s bravery.

“I had gone to meet with them [striking miners] on that hilltop when he said to me: president you have done your job, you can now leave us.

“I tried to protest but he would not relent, saying I would be killed by the police if I stayed.”

He said he had driven a short distance when a call came through on his cellphone telling him that the strikers were being mowed down by the police.

“I wanted to go back but there was no way to at that time. Mambush had told me that if I get killed, the world would never know the truth,” the union leader said yesterday.

He described Noki as a deeply humble, respectful, brave man who was a good listener.

He said the union would build a home for each of the 34 Marikana victims’ families, using money from the trust fund.

Amcu had decided to start with Noki as he was one of the most prominent faces of the protest.

Construction of the home is due to start in October with the completion date envisaged before December 25, Mathunjwa said.

These homes would not be like the ANC’s RDP houses, which he said were not fit for humans.

Amcu would build a proper house for Noki’s family. Even the Lonmin bosses would be proud to live in it, he said.