The Marikana Commemoration

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the shootings in Marikana. I have tried to follow this on the web, in newspapers and other media like radio and TV. Some things have become clearer but I still have some questions.

First of the all the day was calm. No incidents were reported. There were worries about new fights between rivalling trade unions. According to the National police commissioner Riah Phiyega, quoted in Mail and Guardian,

… all parties present behaved in a manner indicative of the respect being paid to all those who passed away over this period in 2012 …

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) was one of the organisers. (It’s good to see that the Council is still active, although this is a bit re-active rather than pro-active). I was a bit surprised that the Government was not part of the commemoration, but given the fact that the police was heavily involved in the shootings (yes, they actually shot 34 miners) this can be understood. Another remarkable thing is that only one trade union was represented on the stage, namely the youngest and now largest at Lonmins mine in Marikana: AMCU. But after some research I understood that the other unions wanted to avoid conflicts and decided not to join.

But then the question arises: if the shot mine workers were from different trade unions, how can the other trade unions decide not to be part of the commemoration? In fact, my interpretation is that the shot mine workers (at least the 34 who were shot by the police) came from AMCU only. Maybe the other 10, who were killed before 16 August last year, belonged to other unions. This opens up for other questions like: Why did the police shoot workers from AMCU? Why is not the Government (ANC) part of the commemoration? (The ANC is in an alliance with Cosatu. The oldest trade union for mine workers, NUM, belong to Cosatu). My confusion has to do with the relation between NUM, Cosatu, ANC, Lonmin and the police force. As reader you can understand what kind of question I want to ask ….

There is an on-going investigation: the Farlam commission. Former Arts and Culture Minister, Pallo Jordan, is quite harsh in BDLive:

The ANC government eschewed the methods of repressive governments: armed police, security police raids, followed by arrests. But the snail’s pace at which the Farlam Commission is carrying out its inquiry compounds the tragedy. We need answers in a hurry to correct the crowd-control methods employed by our police.

It’s going to be interesting to follow what comes out of this.

On a closing note: ANC was not present. But almost all the other political parties were. Trying to get votes, of course. But also initiative. According to Citypress Julius Malema stole the show. Having said, as Mail and Guardian puts it:

Zuma and Lonmin have blood on their hands

Maybe that answers the question I did not ask. Whether this is right or wrong it makes me worried that Malema is the one at the centre of the stage in all this.

Marikana and Cosatu

The reader of this blogpost will understand that I have not fully understood the situation. Let me give some short insights:

The Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) central executive committee is gathered tonight in a serious meeting. According to BusinessDayLive the Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi’s fate is on the agenda. He is accused of having raped a woman in the organisation.

On 16 August one year has passed after the massacre at Marikana. Today I read in Mail & Guardian that the new trade union, AMCU, has been recognised as the majority union at Lonmin. The old one, NUM, is a member of Cosatu.

IOL news says that Vavi scandal has claimed its first casualty. A special national executive committee of the SA Democratic Teachers Union has suspended Thobile Ntola, president of the teachers’ union Sadtu. He had allowed Vavi to address a gathering in the Eastern Cape, so that he could explain himself.

There is a discussion in Cosatu whether or not they should support Zuma. As far as I understand Vavi is not a Zuma supporter. But isn't the Vavi story very similar to the Zuma-saga? Some also claim that there is a conspiracy here, just as others said when Zuma was accused for having raped a women.

I don’t understand much but I have to ask: Who cares about the woman who maybe was raped? Who cares about the mine workers in Marikana whose salaries still are too low?

Marikana

Värsta blodbadet i Sydafrika efter 1994. I torsdags fick vi det fruktansvärda budet att 34 gruvarbetare dödats av polis vid en gruva i västra Sydafrika. Marikana! Vad som har hänt är inte lätt att veta. Polisens berättelse har ändrats. Först pratade man om att även polisen greps av panik. Sedan att de inte hade något val.
Det är olika fackföreningar som redan innan polisen ingrep hade varit inblandade i stridigheter med dödsfall som följd. Den ena heter The Association of Mineworkers and Constructution Union (AMCU) och den andra The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Det är inte enkelt att förstå vari konflikten består men definitivt är det för enkelt att påstå att konflikten bara handlar om stridigheter mellan två fackförbund. Enligt Mining weekly är AMCU är en relativt nystartad fackförening som utmanar det monopol som NUM har haft.
Gruvan ägs av ett företag som heter Lonmin. På deras hemsida kan man läsa:

Lonmin, which is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, is one of the world’s largest primary producers of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs). These metals are essential for many industrial applications, especially catalytic converters for internal combustion engine emissions, as well as their widespread use in jewellery.

I ett första pressmeddelande skriver Lonmins styrelseordföranden Roger Phillimore:

We are treating the developments around police operations this afternoon with the utmost seriousness. The South African Police Service (SAPS) have been in charge of public order and safety on the ground since the violence between competing labour factions erupted over the weekend, claiming the lives of eight of our employees and two police officers. It goes without saying that we deeply regret the further loss of life in what is clearly a public order rather than labour relations associated matter.

I mitt tycke verkar det inte som om företaget erkänner någon delaktighet i det som hänt. Är det rimligt? Jag vet inte, men frågorna måste ju ställas.
Helt klart är att Sydafrikas president, Jacob Zuma, är kritisk mot polisens agerande. En utredning ska inledas. En annan som engagerar sig är förre ledaren för ANC Youth leageu, Julius Malema, som enligt Mail and Guardian besökte området idag. Ett spännande citat, från ANC youth leagues f d talesperson, Floyd Shivambu för tankarna till tidigare händelser i Sydafrikas historia:

Most of the people were shot at the back, indicating that they were running away so police actions were not justified …

För den som känner Sydafrikas förflutna går tankarna till händelserna i Sharpeville den 21 mars 1960, när minst 69 personer dödades och även då de flesta sköts i ryggen. Som jag uppfattar det är Shivambus uttalande ett sätt att koppla händelsen till kampen mot apartheid. Denna retorik är vanlig i Sydafrika. Inte så konstigt att just de, som petats ur ANC, använder denna retorik. Polisen har definitivt använt övervåld. Rimligen måste en utredning leda till fällande domar för polisbefäl och polischefer på olika nivåer. Det blir, mitt i tragiken, ett viktigt prov för Sydafrikas rättssystem. Samtidigt måste blickarna också riktas mot president Zumas och regeringens oförmåga att leda utvecklingen mot ett mer rättvist samhälle.