Today marks the fourth anniversary of the Marikana massacre where 34 miners were shot and killed in full view of the world. There is still the voice of anger, families still bear the scars of a tragedy. Nothing has changed for the people who were affected by the tragedy.
The commission’s findings did not call for any apologies and compensation for families of victims. There were no recommendations for prosecution or accountability. The conclusions of the commission’s report do not differ from the massacre at Sharpeville in 1960 and the Soweto riots in 1976 under the apartheid government. The death of the 34 miners who were brutally murdered in broad daylight is a tragedy and nobody takes responsibility.
The police were not acting in self-defense and gunned down striking workers. Although the miners were armed with pangas, knives, and spears and vigilant wanting to make a point of fighting the right to earn a decent wage.
Before the release of the commission report, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma while addressing students at the Pretoria University made some startling remarks regarding the 2012 Marikana killings. Zuma spoke about the police and actions leading up to the death of 34 miners. Zuma said the miners killed people, and the police stopped the killings, a real turnaround of actual events. Zuma protected the police ahead of the release of the report.
Sadly enough, black lives are just as cheap under the ANC as they were under apartheid. The only thing that has changed is the skin color of the oppressors. The ANC is insecure and sensitive to the real issues affecting the people of South Africa. The strategy of the ANC is to silence any critics while disruption and unproven accusations are the strategies of the EFF.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema remains adamant that the Marikana massacre was a direct result of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa ordering the police to shoot and kill striking miners. The miners were trying to get back to their compounds when the police shot them. The police could have used rubber bullets or other means to stop them, but they did not.
The video reflects the aggressive and spontaneous action of the police who acted merciless shooting miners without consideration of life.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
