We have never condoned any type of killing no matter what reasons you may have. Celebrating the death of another human being is a reflection of cannibalism from us. Section 49 of the constitution guarantees the right to life. To top it all we have the judicial system which would have guaranteed that if the miners were at wrong for asking for a raise in their salary were going to be subjected to. People like Piere De Vos (on www.constitutionallyspeaking.co.za blog) will argue the legal side of the issue but mine is to only unpack the political motives that the Lonmin Company (Cyril Ramaphosa’s company), NUM, ANC, and SAPS had to kill the miners.
People don't want to acknowledge that the COSATU affiliated unions always try by all means to discredit any other unions that oppose them. It is clear that NUM is slowly losing credibility amongst workers hence they decided to collaborate with Lonmin employers (whom by accident happened to have a 51 % share held by ANC’s Cyril Ramaphosa).
The war in the mining is more political than we think it is. Those 10 people that died could have been avoided had the Ramaphosa's listened to the workers’ demands. Instead they responded by murdering an extra 34 and wounding more than 70 others to balance the scales. Isn’t that ridiculous? I am not saying that the blood of the police had to be shed, as most of you think that shedding the workers’ blood was the solution. The type of violence that the hungry, and the powerless are forced to wage against each other is caused by the lack of leadership from the unions. We have the Uncle Tom type of attitude that NUM has been flaunting through as long as I can remember and lately more vigilant unions are flourishing and they represent the core issues that workers have. Yes does not justify the killing of security forces, had the workers. To me the workers deserve to be listened to even if the agreement is not reached, you cannot just take away the people’s right to strike and expect them to fold arms, worse of all you cannot think forcing people to go to work or else you expel them solves the issue. The issue in South Africa is more about the imbalance in the distribution of wealth, with the rich getting richer while the poor remain poorer.
After some enormous pressure from the international governments your government is finally declaring this week as a week of mourning. The flags are currently flying at half-mast in all South African embassies, but what will surprise them is that solidarity marches are organised around the world to condemn the manner in which the ANC government treats its people. But we all know that, it is not enough to fly flags at half mast, pay 2 million towards people’s funerals. All the people want is an increase in their salaries so that they can support their families.
Another thing that came out of the issue was the election of the Presidential commission of inquiry which in a way was a slap in the face of the protesters. A presidential commission will not be as effective as a judicial commission.
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