16 stories about the Marikana massacre anniversary you need to read

It has been 10 years since Marikana mineworkers embarked on a strike that ended in tragedy.

In 2012, 34 mineworkers were shot by police in Marikana, North West, during a standoff with law enforcement while protesting for higher pay and better living conditions.

Workers at the Lonmin platinum mine were demanding a minimum monthly salary of R12,500 a month. When negotiations with management reached a deadlock, workers engaged in strike action.

Marikana: 'Only 544 of the 2,658 houses promised by government' are complete

Ten years after the massacre of 34 people protesting over pay and conditions at their place of work, the government still has not delivered on its promise of housing for the community of Marikana, says Amnesty International SA and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies.

Between August 12-14 in 2012 10 people were killed during protest action at Lonmin in Marikana in the North West platinum mine belt, including two security guards and police officers. Then on August 16 that year the country watched as police opened fire with R5 assault rifles, killing 34 miners.

WATCH | Leon Sadiki on the image that 'defined Marikana'

It was 10 years ago when photojournalist Leon Sadiki received a call from his editor about events unfolding at Marikana. 

When Sadiki arrived at the scene on August 14 he found a situation unlike any he had encountered. He said attempting to visually document the story was difficult as some striking mineworkers were not open to the media's presence.

WATCH | ‘My life is worse’: Marikana survivor shot multiple times during massacre

Former mineworker and Marikana survivor Mzoxolo Magidiwana’s name means “home of peace”, but 10 years after suffering multiple gunshot wounds during the massacre his life is anything but peaceful.

“It’s through God’s grace that I am well and alive right now, but we’ve become the laughing stock in the community despite our blood having been shed with the whole world watching,” he said.

Magidiwana, who took TimesLIVE Premium around the koppie in Nkaneng, where the Marikana massacre took place, said locals have labelled him as one of the bantu basentabeni (the people from the mountain). This is in reference to the koppie where striking Lonmin mineworkers had gathered before 34 were shot dead by police officers — none of whom has been prosecuted.

The aftermath was one of the biggest massacres in SA history, with some comparing it to Sharpeville in 1960.

Here are stories about the 10th anniversary of the massacre you need to read:

Families still seeking justice a decade later

A framed portrait of a spear-wielding Mgcineni “Mambush” Noki, with a green blanket around his shoulders and addressing miners on a koppie, greets visitors entering an 11-roomed house towering over mud huts at his home in the Eastern Cape.

“The quest for truth and justice shall set you free” is emblazoned across the bottom of the image.

Noki became the face of the Marikana massacre when the image, taken hours before he was killed in the mining town on August 16 2012, went viral.

The imposing home is one of 28 built by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) in the province for the families of those who died in the massacre.

His sister, Nolufefe Noki, described the house as “cold comfort”.

‘I may be mingling daily with my husband’s killers’: Marikana widow

Marikana widow Aisha Fundi often wonders if she is unknowingly mingling with her husband’s killers.

It is an uncomfortable thought that occurs especially when she’s at work in the human resources department of the Sibanye-Stillwater (formerly Lonmin) offices in Marikana.

Though her husband’s killers are yet to be brought to book, Fundi knows some of those who took part in the violent incident that led to the death of the father of her children are her colleagues.

Her husband, Lonmin mine security guard Hassan Fundi, and a colleague were murdered by striking mineworkers, who also cut off some of his body parts.

EDITORIAL | Ramaphosa’s broken Marikana promises will continue to haunt his career

President Cyril Ramaphosa has attracted a number of scandals in his political career. In some circles he’s earned the unenviable moniker of “cupcake”, while in others he’s known for his strong committee-creating abilities. In Limpopo, Ramaphosa is known for his Ankole farming pedigree. Amid the koppies  in Marikana, Ramaphosa is whispered about as a man who has not kept his word.

A day before the 2012 massacre, Ramaphosa had written to the management of Lonmin saying “concomitant action” should be taken against striking mineworkers who had staged a sit-in over several days at a rocky outcrop.

“The terrible events that have unfolded cannot be described as a labour dispute. They are plainly dastardly criminal and must be characterised as such. There needs to be concomitant action to address this situation,” Ramaphosa had famously written.

Twenty-four hours after this e-mail from the man who would be president, police took steps which led to the deaths of 34 miners.

POLL | Will Ramaphosa’s legacy be stained by Marikana?

As the country remembers the 10th anniversary of the Marikana massacre, the heated debate around President Cyril Ramaphosa’s involvement and legacy raged on.

Events that led to Marikana bloodbath

The August 2012 Marikana massacre was the culmination of a labour dispute at Karee mine in Rustenburg.

The mine, now operated by Sibanye-Stillwater, was then owned by Lonmin.

Evidence at the Marika Commission of Inquiry showed the impasse was “characterised by violence, intimidation, loss of life and the undermining of agreed collective bargaining processes”. 

WATCH | Marikana litigation will be wrapped up by month-end: solicitor-general

Solicitor-general Fhedzisani Pandelani said the litigation between the state and victims of the Marikana massacre will be finalised by the end of the month.

Pandelani was commenting during a recent progress report at the Ronnie Mamoepa Media Centre in Pretoria.

He said of the 48 claims, half had been finalised, and he believed by the end of the month more would have been concluded.

He regretted the litigation taking as long as it did.

Four names that made headlines during the Marikana massacre

The Marikana Massacre made news globally, with several images beamed across the world.

From future presidents to police and a miner who became a face of the tragedy, here are four names that dominated the headlines 10 years ago.

IN PICS | Marikana massacre: a decade later and still no closure

In 2012 photographer Alon Skuy was alerted about a miners’ strike in Marikana in North West. He headed to the town, not knowing the tragedy that would unfold in the next few days would be the lowest point in SA’s democratic history.

Skuy recalls how shockingly and surreally the scene transformed in seconds on August 16 when 34 miners were killed by police.

Skuy has stayed with this story at key moments over the past decade, including the families’ pilgrimage to the scenes of killing and the Farlam Commission hearings.

He returned to Marikana this year in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the massacre and found the loved ones of those killed have many unanswered questions and no guarantees for a better life.

These images form part of a commemorative booktitled MARiKANA 2012/2022.

‘Little has changed’ in public order policing since Marikana

Little has changed in law enforcement dealings with crowd management since Marikana, except officers  no longer carry R5 automatic rifles at protests. 

These are the views of David Bruce, an independent researcher in policing, crime and criminal justice, who conducted extensive research on policing in the massacre.

Bruce said though “Marikana was not typical of the way in which the police usually deal with protests”, there were limited changes in how public order policing has been implemented since.

Floyd Shivambu: 'Marikana one of the reasons the ANC must and will die'

As the nation reflects on the anniversary of the massacre, Shivambu said it was a reason for the ruling party to "die".

“We haven’t forgotten that the ANC government under the influence and instruction of global capitalist greed and [President Cyril] Ramaphosa killed workers in Marikana 10 years ago. The massacre of workers in Marikana is one of the reasons why the ANC must and will die,” claimed Shivambu. 

EDITORIAL | The Marikana albatross around our neck smells worse every passing year

Marikana was an outrage of the kind that is not supposed to happen in our democratic and presumably more humane society in which freedom of association and expression are constitutionally guaranteed,  and those in authority can be held accountable for their treatment of citizens.

Yet the fact that it did happen is fundamentally an indication of how too many aspects of our society have not changed since the end of apartheid.

A full decade later, Marikana continues to blight our democracy, a festering wound left unattended in the apparent hope it will heal itself.

Worryingly, it appears the nation has not learnt much since the events of 2012.

Sibanye-Stillwater struggles with the legacy of Marikana

I remember August 16 2012 as if it was yesterday. It was unbelievable that 34 striking workers had been gunned down, with many shot in the back.

Lonmin, the London and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Ltd, previously known as Lonrho and founded in 1909, had long been called out on its ethics. In 1962 Tiny Rowland was appointed CEO and later gave the company a bad name by breaking sanctions in then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1973.

British prime minister Edward Heath criticised the company, describing it in the House of Commons in 1973 as “an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism”.  

It was this unacceptable capitalism that again showed its face in 2012.

Today we are left with these memories, and the 34 widows, orphans, the 78 injured, and their families. Yet, before August 16, 10 others died; six workers, two security guards and two police officers, with a total death toll of 44. 

A massacre remembered: Award-winning Marikana musical returns to stage

Marikana - The Musical, written and directed by multiple award-winning playwright and director Aubrey Sekhabi, is an adaptation of the book We Are Going to Kill Each Other Today: The Marikana Story written by Sunday Times senior investigative reporter Thanduxolo Jika, Felix Dlangamandla, Lucas Ledwaba, Sebabatso Mosamo, Athandwa Saba and Leon Sadiki.

The multi Naledi Theatre Award-winning production was on a four-year hiatus, but has returned to the stage at the SA State Theatre until August 28.