The Marikana Massacre was commemorated on Saturday amid demands for justice for the 34 fallen mineworkers killed during a strike at Lonmin Mine in Marikana, North West, 13 years ago.

The day was marked by calls to declare August 16 as Marikana Memorial Day, and Allied Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has announced plans to make the koppie, the site where the killings took place, into a memorial site.

Prior to the massacre, 10 people, including security guards and police officers, were killed when workers embarked on a wildcat strike at Lonmin Mine, now Sibanye-Stillwater.

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) said there have been no prosecutions for the deaths that occurred during the Marikana incident, and no one has been held to account for the physical and psychological injuries suffered by many individuals.

“The failure to hold accountable those responsible for these deaths is a betrayal of the promise of justice. Not only does it dishonour the families of the deceased, but erodes trust in our justice system,” SERI executive director Nomzamo Zondo said.

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) expressed the lingering wounds left by the massacre.

Saftu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi described the events of 13 years ago as not merely tragic, but as a premeditated act of state violence designed to protect economic interests at the expense of workers, whose demand for a living wage remained a symbol of dignity and resistance.

“Yet not one political leader, police commander, or corporate executive has been held criminally accountable. Widows, children, and survivors still live with the pain of loss and injustice of impunity, while Lonmin – now Sibanye-Stillwater – and other mining corporations continue to profit from the platinum soaked in workers’ blood,” Vavi said.

He also said the Farlam Commission, which probed the massacre, had exposed collusion between the police, political leaders, and mining bosses to “deal decisively” with striking workers.

“It showed how post-apartheid capitalism remains willing to deploy lethal force to protect profits and punish worker militancy.”

Vavi said there was no criminal accountability for those who ordered or executed the killings, and that only two of the commission’s recommendations on Public Order Policing reforms have reportedly been implemented in over a decade.

“The state’s refusal to fully implement these recommendations confirms Saftu’s reluctance to participate in any so-called national dialogue. Dialogue without justice is a betrayal to the victims and a mockery to the working class.”

Vavi said they were demanding, among other things, full criminal accountability for all those responsible for the massacre, and comprehensive and finalised compensation for all widows, dependents, and injured workers, with interest for years of delay.

The EFF said the Marikana Massacre was a crime against the working class executed under the command of the state to protect white monopoly capital.

Spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said it was not surprising that the ANC has refused to deliver justice to the families of the victims, and there were no prosecutions, reparations, and structural change to the mining sector.

“The workers of Marikana died in vain because their demands remain unmet, their killers remain unpunished, and the system that murdered them remains firmly in place,” he said.

Thambo also said the Red Berets were committed to “the struggle for economic freedom our lifetime” in honour of the Marikana martyrs.

“We will not rest until the families of Marikana receive justice, until the mining industry is nationalised for the benefit of the people, until the state protects every worker from violence and exploitation and until no worker is forced to die for a living wage,” added Thambo.

Build One South Africa (BOSA) Spokesperson Roger Solomons said President Cyril Ramaphosa should declare August 16 as Marikana Memorial Day to commemorate the 34 miners killed by police.

“There is no closure and there is incomplete justice for many, many families who are now fatherless and brotherless, and who have lost sons, and this is a blemish, hence, we ought to right these wrongs, and as BOSA, we are calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare 16 August Marikana Memorial Day,” Solomon said.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) Deputy President Phuthuma Manyathi said the union planned to make the koppie a memorial site.

“The plan is to secure and preserve this area, because if you see the area, because the squatter camp is actually encroaching. Every day, people coming here and we run the risk of not having the koppie at all. One day we’ll come here, there will be no space to commemorate,” Manyathi said.

“We are at a very advanced stage, where we want to build a memorial site, so that for generations that come, they will know what happened, and it will always be there,” he added.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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