Marikana: A statement

Following is a statement on the Marikana tragedy signed by a group of concerned Catholics. We reproduce it here as a contribution to a national conversation. The views contained in the statement are solely the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of The Southern Cross. See also the statement issued last week by SACBC president Archbishop Buti Tlhagale.

A STATEMENT ON THE MARIKANA TRAGEDY

 16 August 2012, South Africa, a date that will forever live in infamy for years to come, it is a day that besmirched our impeccable image as a country that boasts the best Constitution with a Bill of Rights in the world. Many countries, especially in the developing world envied our democratic political culture and systems of good governance. Thus it is unfortunate that the tragic chain of events which had been simmering for a long time finally reached a boiling point that resulted in the outrageous killing of forty-four miners including two policemen.

We share the view that this should not have happened. It is important to state that there were sufficient warning signs, which were not acted upon. Accordingly many legitimate questions still need to be answered honestly without any cover-up, to enable our country to implement strategies to ensure that a tragedy of this magnitude does not happen again.

We wish to state that this is not the time to indulge in speculation or the apportioning of blame, most importantly, it not a time for political point scoring. The nation is in mourning for the whole week, but we are also aware that the pain will take time to heal.

We all welcome the President’s announcement that the country should observe a week of mourning. Likewise, we are also pleased at the need to sett up of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to coordinate the immediate needs of the survivors of the deceased, as well as the appointment of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to determine the following: :

• What went wrong and why?
• Whether mine management, union leaders, the relevant government departments as well as the key role players provided sufficient leadership?
• Why the police resorted to the use of maximum force as well as their state of preparedness to deal with the standoff?

•To establish  the veracity of the speculation that the rivalry between the unions may or may not have made the miners vulnerable to manipulation;
• Whether the disparities between the salaries of the mine workers and those of their bosses were the main source of the conflict?
• What measures will be put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future?

Whilst the terms of reference for the Commission have yet to be announced, one can confidently predict its limitations.  Like most Commissions of Inquiry, their primary function is mainly to unravel factual information about the what, where, how, when and the outcome of the incident or event. Furthermore, it is a known fact the investigators are ordinarily not expected to do a political, economic, sociological or ideological in-depth analysis of the subject of their inquiry.

We therefore do not need to await the outcome of the said Commission to make some critical observations. What happened at Lonmin in Marikana last week can be attributed to three interlinked root causes – poverty, unemployment and social inequality. The latest Gini-coefficient index says it all. South Africa is the worst example of the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest of the poor. It is a known fact that the mine owners are primarily motivated by the desire to maximise profits at all costs, given the opportunity. They moreover expect their workforce to provide labour as cost-efficiently as possible.

Therefore, it is understandable that the dead and the injured miners represented the underclass, whose main objective is to survive as well as to be paid a decent salary. Judging from the workers who were interviewed by the media most of them are migrant workers. Historically, this category of worker has always come from poverty-stricken areas. Unavoidably most often they are willing to do dangerous work underground in order to feed their dependants. However, since they are not stupid, they can see the huge disparities in their remuneration and those of their bosses. With the rising costs of food, transport, fuel, shelter, health-care and education one can appreciate their desperation.

Rhetoric notwithstanding, our economy is by and large capital-driven and is dictated to by the vagaries of the markets. The government has admitted that unemployment, especially among the youth, is a huge problem. Linked to this reality is the worsening social distance between the government and the masses of people since 1994. This is fundamentally a class disjuncture which is no longer simply a black and white affair. Dynamic inter-sectoral communication has somewhat taken a knock. Granted, there may or may not be any direct link between the tragic and gruesome loss of black lives in some provinces. But we had hardly recovered from the loss of twenty five workers whose truck collided with a goods train at a level-crossing in Malelane, in Mpumalanga; only to be followed by a series of road accidents involving passenger buses, taxi-cabs, scholar transport particularly in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.  Each one of those accidents resulted in massive loss of lives at a go. As though this was not enough, Marikana was followed by a barbaric murder of three youngsters in Limpopo for reasons yet to be determined.

In addition, the phenomenon of mob revenge seems to be rearing its ugly head again. Similarly political assassinations and inter-regional revenge slaughter have also resurfaced in KwaZulu-Natal. The vast majority of these victims and casualties are black people. The Western Cape Province has had to request for the army’s intervention to rein in gangsterism. It is also worrisome that violent community uprisings euphemistically called “service delivery protests” are in evidence everywhere. Marikana has caught the imagination of the whole country because of its magnitude.

Hasn’t the time come to launch a national campaign to re-emphasise the sanctity of human life? We can no longer hide behind our violent past, however true that may have been. Under apartheid most of the deaths of black people were linked to resistance against apartheid rule, yet today the violence happens in a country that has the best Constitution in the world, that defies all logic! We therefore need to ask why are there are so many violent non-political fatalities, eighteen years into democracy?

It is remarkable to note the manner in which the public sector and organs of civil society have spontaneously responded to the Marikana saga, although not properly coordinated this is to be commended. It is evident that if properly organised, that groundswell of good will could once again restore the greatness of our country. This therefore means that the masses of our people are ready to respond positively to a call to collaborate in the promotion of the common good.

Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa (Pretoria)
Fr Mathibela Sebothoma (Pretoria)
Fr Thabiso Ledwaba (Rome, Italy)
Fr Herman Mole (Pretoria)
Fr Sello Makgale (Steelpoort)
Dr Francisca Bhekiwe Mtshali (Pretoria)
Fr Kevin Reynolds (Pretoria)
Fr Sefatsa Qopane (Pietermaritzburg)
Fr Mokesh Morar (France)
Fr Kenny Moteane (Rustenburg)
Fr Wandile Dingiswayo, CSsR (Rustenburg)
Msgr Joe Kizito (Aliwal)