Amcu slams state as ‘gatekeepers of white monopoly capital’ on Marikana anniversary
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has slammed government for the lack of accountability in the 2012 Marikana massacre where 34 miners died.
The labour union remembered the miners on the anniversary of the massacre on Sunday.
The massacre took place on August 16 at the Lonmin Platinum Mine, where mineworkers were demanding a minimum salary of R12,500 a month.
But for the first time in eight years, the commemoration was held in Johannesburg due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
“What happened on August 16, 2012 was carefully planned and orchestrated by the unholy alliance of the state and the capital to protect their interest,” said Amcu leader, Joseph Mathunjwa.
Mathunjwa reiterated calls for the tragedy to be rename to Sibanye-Stillwater Massacre.
“The Sibanye massacre was a tipping point that unraveled a deep-rooted injustice underlying the structural deficiency of our economy.
“In this country we do not have leaders, but we have managers. The state, acting as a gatekeeper of the white monopoly capital, killed fellow South African in order to prove to their masters that their foreign direct investment is safe.”
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Nieftagodien was speaking at the second annual Marikana Memorial Lecture in Sandton north of Johannesburg on Friday. He said that those behind the Marikana massacre must be brought to book and that civil society needs to mobilise a movement that will challenge the fundamental inequality of the country.
Mathunjwa said while the police’s heavy-handed actions cannot go unpunished, more needs to be done to reform the country's policing system.
Meanwhile, government said it remains committed in addressing the injustices faced by the North West community.
Several recommendations were made by the Farlam Commission in 2018 into the killings but are yet to be implemented.
“The pains that were felt by the workers, their families, government and the nation on that fatal day in 2012 is entrenched in the country’s history and is a reminder of what must never happen again in South Africa,” said government spokesperson Phumla Williams in a statement.
“Government notes the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry in areas such as strengthening public order policing.”
Listen to Joseph Mathunjwa below: