It’s been a year, almost, since the massacre at Marikana, and the nation, and its media, are struggling, sort of, to find a way to address all that has, and even more has not, happened in the intervening year. A year later, tensions simmer, the Farlam Commission is more or less falling apart, some great and moving documentaries are beginning to emerge, and the widows of Marikana organize and wait, wait and organize.
This is how the week began. On Sunday, in a prayer service in Langa, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega announced that South Africa would `commemorate’ the Marikana tragedy. How exactly will the police, who used live ammunition to put down a mineworkers’ strike, `commemorate’ the event?
More to the point, is commemoration the best way to honor the dead miners and, even more, their survivors, the widows and children? As one widow explained, soon after the massacre, “Today I am called a widow and my children are called fatherless because of the police. I blame the mine, the police and the government because they are the ones who control the country.”
How will `the nation’ commemorate those who are now called widows and those who are now called fatherless? What happened on August 16, 2012? 34 miners were killed. Many others were wounded. And widows were made. Soon after one mineworker was arrested, police told him, “Right here we have made many widows … we have killed all these men.”
The State machinery, call it a factory, produced widows of women that day, and has continued to produce widows of those very women every single day since. So, here’s a suggestion. Rather than `commemorate’, compensate.
(Photo Credit: Greg Marinovich /Daily Maverick)
#Marikana: Don’t commemorate. Compensate. http://t.co/PZWoiVaJ6B #South_Africa
#Marikana widows: Don’t commemorate. Compensate. http://t.co/W2WrCRcdWK #South_Africa
http://t.co/fyuYnSsQmQ Don’t commemorate – compensate. #Marikana
[…] a definitive answer of what happened to their father. They sat through almost three years now of empty commemorations without any discussion of compensation. The President also “forgot” to mention compensation in […]
[…] Africa is currently awash in commissions of inquiry. There’s the ongoing and perhaps never-ending Marikana Commission. Today we read there’s to be a new commission of inquiry into the Tongaat […]
MARIKANA MASSACRE: STATE FACES CIVIL CLAIMS WORTH OVER R1BN http://ewn.co.za/2017/03/15/marikana-massacre-state-faces-civil-claims-worth-over-r1bn
Govt offers Marikana victims, families R1.1bn http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/govt-offers-marikana-victims-families-r11bn-20170315
Massive payouts for Marikana shootings are under way http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2017/03/15/Massive-payouts-for-Marikana-shootings-are-under-way
Marikana: Lonmin’s dodgy housing record https://www.groundup.org.za/article/marikana-lonmins-dodgy-housing-record/
Marikana massacre: Witnesses to slaughter at Scene 2
https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/marikana-massacre-witnesses-to-slaughter-at-scene-2-20180211-2
Open letter to Cyril Ramaphosa: Use your power to make reparation over Marikana https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-02-15-open-letter-to-cyril-ramaphosa-use-your-power-to-make-reparation-over-marikana/#.WoV5BiOZNsM
Zuma will be remembered for the Secrecy Bill, Marikana and corruption, says R2K https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/zuma-will-be-remembered-for-the-secrecy-bill-marikana-and-corruption-says-r2k-20180215
Marikana families: This is how you can help us heal‚ Mr Ramaphosa https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-02-22-marikana-families-this-is-how-you-can-help-us-heal-mr-ramaphosa/
Police to finally appear in court for Marikana murders https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-11-police-to-finally-appear-in-court-for-marikana-murders
Lonmin’s final AGM faces protests by families of Marikana massacre victims https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/03/10/lonmins-final-agm-faces-protests-families-marikana-massacre/
9 senior police officials to appear for Marikana murders https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/9-senior-police-officials-to-appear-for-marikana-massacre-20180315
Marikana top cop witness now accused of lying to commission https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-03-16-marikana-top-cop-witness-now-accused-of-lying-to-commission/
Marikana workers live in dire conditions three years after Farlam report https://www.groundup.org.za/article/marikana/
Marikana activists march 80km to Union Buildings demanding compensation for widows https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/watch-marikana-activists-march-80km-to-union-buildings-demanding-compensation-for-widows-20181206
‘I don’t feel like a citizen of this country’ https://www.newframe.com/i-dont-feel-like-a-citizen-of-this-country/
Marikana – The struggle for breath and dignity https://www.newframe.com/marikana-the-struggle-for-breath-and-dignity/
Marikana: The unfolding of a never-ending tragedy https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-14-marikana-the-unfolding-of-a-never-ending-tragedy/
Marikana: ‘A wound that will never fully heal’ https://www.newframe.com/marikana-a-wound-that-will-never-fully-heal/
Marikana – we’re tired of memorialising https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-17-marikana-were-tired-of-memorialising/
Marikana and the many faces of justice https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-22-marikana-and-the-many-faces-of-justice/
Marikana – The struggle for breath and dignity https://www.newframe.com/marikana-the-struggle-for-breath-and-dignity/