Rustenburg - There is no development in Marikana near Rustenburg in the North West, 10-years after 34 mineworkers were gunned down.
Community activist Napoleon Webster said Marikana was now worse than it was 10 years ago.
“The little infrastructure in Marikana has deteriorated. The families who have lost their members continue to grapple with post-Marikana realities, where they have to fend for themselves for survival.
“There is no appetite for holding accountable those who have committed atrocities. The pursuit of justice is just a mere lip service,” he said.
The SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) in the North West province also decried the slow pace towards reconciliation post the Marikana massacre.
“Delayed justice and political opportunism have deferred reconciliation and healing necessary for families that lost their loved ones to find closure and move on,” said Sanco provincial chairperson Paul Sebegoe.
“Exploiting the massacre for political expediency has compromised and delayed the healing process,” he said.
Hundreds of mineworkers gathered at the infamous Marikana koppie to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the massacre in which 34 Lonmin platinum mineworkers were shot dead by the police.
The mineworkers were shot dead on August 16, 2012 at the foot of a koppie near the Nkaneng informal settlement.
Mineworkers employed at Lonmin Platinum Mine, now Sibanye Marikana Operations, had gone on a wildcat strike demanding a minimum monthly salary of R12 500.
They declined to be represented by trade unions; instead they elected a workers’ committee to represent them and they camped at the koppie.
The wildcat strike that started on August 9, 2012 turned violent, and 10 people including two Lonmin security officers and two policemen were killed in the preceding week.
The DA said the families of those who died in the Marikana massacre have yet to see justice.
“Not a single person has been held accountable for the massacre. In the decade since the tragedy, no politicians or police officers have been arrested for the violence that was unleashed on people who were fighting for better working conditions – a failure on the part of South African law enforcement agencies,” said national spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube.
She said: “The brutal killings at Marikana were akin to the violence that the apartheid government unleashed on those who were fighting for freedom.
“It is atrocious that the very liberation movement so pivotal in establishing a democratic South Africa has turned against those they swore to emancipate. The majority of people suffering under the ANC government’s moral corruption and greed are poor black South Africans.”
She said the DA had long called for the prosecution of every person involved in the deaths of the 44 people at Marikana, the reform of the mining sector and support and compensation for the families of the victims.
“The families need closure and justice for their loved ones. Their lives that are lost should never be in vain, but serve as a reminder of what must never happen again.”
IOL