Marikana Massacre

Was there a reason behind MARIKANA MASSACRE? Months after the violent that erupted in Marikana Lonmin Mines in the North West, where people lost their lives during the violent wage protest. The general public and the relatives of the victims do not really know what happened in MARIKANA. They know that many were killed during the strike, but still do not know who to blame for this disastrous incident. Police killed miners but miners were arrested and released later on bail. Who is really guilty on this matter?  Some people say unions failed their members. Some say the government failed the worker. Some even say miners asked too much money. What exactly happened? Many are trying to understand this.

Speaking to a member of the ANCYL Tiesetso Mabe from Limpompo, feel that the unions failed miners because the lists of complaints that were listed by the miners were valid and they should have been attended to long time ago. With regards to the issues of wages Tiesetso thinks it is not fair that the miners were earning less than ten thousand rand a month.

While other ANCYL leaders were blaming the government for not coming to the part and come up with the resolution before this got out of hand. The suspended ANCYL president Julius Malema used this opportunity to blame President Jacob Zuma for the problem whilst other ANCYL Members says Zuma was protecting the mining bosses, because of the relationship he has with them. Some of ANC well known leaders are shareholders in the Lonmin Mines.

Mrs Mariette Van Niekerk a freelance journalist from Pretoria has a different view; she thinks miners were asking for too much money.” People with degrees in South Africa are not earning that much, uneducated miners want to earn twelve thousand rands a month”, she says. She suggested that if miners earn this much the country would be promoting lesser education. “Because the youth will just say I’m not going to school because I can go work in the mine.”

The main question is how is the commission going to help the victims of Marikana Massacre? This was just a big sign of NUMSA failing miners.