IN MEMORY OF THE MARIKANA WORKERS Tomorrow (16 August) it will be the 2nd anniversary of the Marikana Massacre. 34 black workers were mowed down by the police, while 78 workers were wounded. Earlier, about 10 people were killed. They include 2 policemen, guards and workers who lost their lives because they were suspected of undermining the strike. To get a better understanding of the Massacre you need to take off your political and ideological camaflage and take the killed workers to be your blood relatives (husband, father son or brother). Perhaps, if you belong to the ruling party you might be forced to defend. Perhaps, if you belong the Opposition you might find an opportunity for politicking. Perhaps, if you come from the Liberation Movement you might find an opportunity to intensify the revolution. So remove those political clothes, and become a blood relative of the black workers who laid down their lives for their rights. I say this because there are known incidents of Comrades who secretly kill their own Comrade and still bury him/her like a hero/in. Also, if you are not a blood relative of the killed workers you may have the luxury to indulge in intellectual gymnastics about whether was it a massacre or a tragedy. We now know that the workers were not on the Lonmin premises, but were gathered at a koppie several kilometres away. Theres footage that shows how they were provoked by stun grenades and some shooting on their way to the koppie. They footage shows that the workers remained disciplined throughout the provocation. Evidence has been led that a number of mortuary vans were ordered by the police. Why? We have seen footage of workers fenced-in before they panicked and wanted to escape in different directions. Forensic evidence has been led that many of the dead workers were shot at the back execution style. There is evidence that the crime scene was tampered with by placing pangas next to the dead bodies. We know that there are missing videotapes of the shooting. We also know that the Lonmin security logbook had some facts altered after the fact. The sad part is to hear that some of the workers lives could have been saved had the ambulances and paramedics been allowed into the scene in time. But that Massacre took place during the Womens Month. While we worry about the dead workers we seldom look at implications of their death to the women that are now widows. One is reported as having said she cant afford to buy a doll for her fatherless child, while some politicians can afford to buy a buffalo costing R18 million. Most of these women are not work, and are not educated. They came to Marikana to be part of their families. They live in appalling conditions. Lonmin so-called Transformation Committee has admitted that no transformation has taken place in Marikana, Its now 2 years since the Massacre. With their husbands dead, these women have become poorer and anonymous. There is no deceased estate to talk about. No pension, no nothing. Remember, it is women who organised the household economy while the men went out to hunt or fight in wars. It is these women who kept the households together, while their husbands were languishing in jails. It is these women who kept the fires of the revolution burning while their husbands were either in exile or killed. So to me the the Womens Month is WIDOWS MONTH. Shall ever know the TRUTH? Yes. In fact, we all know the truth. We need no Commission of Inquiry to know the truth. We know who killed the black workers. And we know why they were killed. We also know who stood to benefit in the killing of the workers. Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to lose, but your chains.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 07:42:22 +0000
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