Mine 'bloodbath' shocks post-apartheid South Africa
Police shot dead more than 30 at Marikana mine; Brutal images shock post-apartheid South Africa; President Zuma cuts short Mozambique trip; World platinum prices spike, Lonmin shares slump
Friday 17 August 2012
Related articles
The killing by police of more than 30 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche today, with people and the media questioning its post-apartheid soul.
Newspaper headlines screamed "Bloodbath", "Killing Field" and "Mine Slaughter", with graphic photographs of heavily armed white and black police officers walking casually past the bloodied corpses of black men lying crumpled in the dust.
The images, along with Reuters television footage of a phalanx of officers opening up with automatic weapons on a small group of men in blankets and t-shirts, rekindled uncomfortable memories of South Africa's racist past.
After over 12 hours of official silence, police minister Nathi Mthethwa confirmed that at least 30 men had died when police moved in against 3,000 striking drill operators armed with machetes and sticks and massed on a rocky outcrop at the mine, 100 km (60 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.
"A lot of people were injured and the number keeps on going up," he said in an interview on Talk Radio 702.
One radio station caller likened the incident, at Lonmin's Marikana platinum plant, to the 1960 Sharpeville township massacre near Johannesburg, when apartheid police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters, killing more than 50.
In a front page editorial, the Sowetan questioned what had changed since 1994, when Nelson Mandela overturned three centuries of white domination to become South Africa's first black president.
"It has happened in this country before where the apartheid regime treated black people like objects," the paper, named after South Africa's biggest black township, said. "It is continuing in a different guise now."
President Jacob Zuma cut short a visit to a regional summit in neighbouring Mozambique to head to the mine. Zuma, who faces an internal leadership election in his ruling African National Congress (ANC) in December, said he was "shocked and dismayed" at the violence, but made no comment on the police behaviour.
"We believe there is enough space in our democratic order for any dispute to be resolved through dialogue without any breaches of the law or violence," he said in a statement.
Despite promises of a better life for all South Africa's 50 million people, the ANC has struggled to provide basic services to millions in poor black townships. Efforts to redress the economic inequalities of apartheid have had mixed results.
The mining sector comes in for particular criticism from radical ANC factions as a bastion of "white monopoly capital".
POLICE PRESENCE
As dawn broke, hundreds of police patrolled the dusty plains around the Marikana mine, which was forced to shut down this week as a rumbling union turf war that has hit the platinum sector this year boiled over.
"There were no problems overnight. The problem is the hill over there where the shooting took place. I am not sure what will happen today," said Patience, a woman who lives in a nearby shanty town. She declined to give her full name.
Crime scene investigators combed the site of the shooting, which was cordoned off with yellow tape, collecting spent cartridges and the slain miners' bloodstained traditional weapons - machetes and spears.
Firearms were also recovered at the scene, they said, backing police reports they were shot at first.
Prior to Thursday, 10 people - including two policemen - had died in nearly a week of conflict between rival unions at what is Lonmin's flagship plant. The London-headquartered company has been forced to shut down all its South African platinum operations, which account for 12 percent of global output.
South Africa is home to 80 percent of the world's known reserves of platinum, a precious metal used in vehicle catalytic converters and for other engineering purposes. Rising power and labour costs and a steep decline this year in the price have left many mines struggling to stay afloat.
Although the striking Marikana miners were demanding huge pay hikes, the roots of the trouble lie in a challenge by the upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) to the 25-year dominance of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a close ANC ally.
"There is clearly an element in this that a key supporter of the ANC - the NUM - has come under threat from these protesting workers," said Nic Borain, an independent political analyst.
AMCU leaders have been criticised for telling the striking miners - many of whom are barely literate - that they were "prepared to die" rather than move from their protest hill.
Pre-crackdown footage of dancing miners waving machetes and licking the blades of home-made spears raised similar questions about the habitual use of violence in industrial action 18 years after the end of apartheid.
"This culture of violence and protest, it must somehow be changed," said John Robbie, a prominent Johannesburg radio host. "You can't act like a Zulu impi in an industrial dispute in this day and age," he said, using the Zulu word for armed units.
World platinum prices spiked nearly 3 percent on Thursday as the full extent of the violence became clear, and rose again on Friday to a 5-week high of $1,450 an ounce.
Lonmin shares in London and Johannesburg fell more than 5 percent to 4-year lows, bringing their losses since the violence began a week ago to nearly 20 percent.
Reuters
-
Charles Saatchi accepts caution for assault over incident in Scott’s restaurant when he put his hands on throat of wife Nigella Lawson
-
Special Report: US troops are stationed in Japan to protect the nation. But to sex workers in Okinawa, they bring fear, not security
-
Police examine photographs of Charles Saatchi with hand on Nigella Lawson's throat
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin denies stealing £16,000 diamond-encrusted Super Bowl ring
-
Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria
- 1 Alan Pardew's warning to Joe Kinnear: I am still the Newcastle manager
- 2 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 3 Charles Saatchi accepts caution for assault over incident in Scott’s restaurant when he put his hands on throat of wife Nigella Lawson
- 4 Exclusive: Cristiano Ronaldo advised to stay at Real Madrid for another 18 months before making possible switch to Manchester United
- 5 Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Learn a new language
Add another string to your bow with Rosetta Stone, whether it's Spanish, Italian or Mandarin...
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Independent Dating
iJobs General
PR Manager - Renewables
£32000 - £33000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...
Regional Sales Manager - Renewable Energy
Negotiable Depending on Experience: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green R...
Senior Property Solicitor - Mayfair
Excellent Salary Package: Austen Lloyd: We have an outstanding opportunity for...
Room Leader NVQ Level 3
Negotiable: Capita Education Resourcing Permanent Team: Room Leader NVQ Level ...
Day In a Page
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention
Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title
In pictures: JFK's visit to Berlin in 1963
Mark Hix gets creative with English peas
Seasoned to taste: Food institutions
VIEW GALLERY







Comments