So. Africa: 5th anniversary of Lonmin Marikana massacres commemorated
The 16th of August 2017 marked the 5th anniversary of the killing of 34 mine workers by South African police at Lonmin's Marikana mine in the North West province in 2012. In total 44 people lost their lives. On the afternoon of 16th August 2012 members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) killed 34 mine workers at a Lonmin Plc owned platinum mine in the Marikana area in North West province. The killings (‘the Marikana massacre’) were preceded by a number of other incidents of violence and confrontation over the period from Friday 10th August onwards, relating to an unfolding conflict at the Marikana mine. The miners were demanding a minimum wage of R12 500 ($950) a month and improvement in living conditions, particularly housing
Lonmin has reportedly absorbed some of the family members of the killed miners for mainly general work and other underground positions. The company is also reported to have set an education fund for children of the killed miners. One of the labour unions active in Marikana, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has set up a trust to build houses for all 44 Marikana families affected; they completed the first one earlier this year and it was for shot and killed strike leader Mgcineni “Mambush” Noki's family in the Eastern Cape. However, many of the promises that Lonmin made before the tragedy, such as the construction of 5 500 housing units, are yet to be fulfilled. The Marikana massacre has put to question a number of aspects relating to business and human rights in South Africa, chief of which is the right to protest as well as the state-corporate nexus and the impacts and consequences of this collusion. In a press statement marking the 5th anniversary of the Marikana massacres, NGO Khulumani Support Group wrote "Today five years after the fateful Marikana massacre, the state-corporate nexus and the impacts and consequences of this nexus, appear as strong as ever and the widows remain excluded from the state's promised measures of repair". Bloggers have argued that the steps made are commendable but the families of the killed mine workers should still receive justice.