Malema to visit striking miners
2012-08-17 22:16
Johannesburg - Expelled ANC Youth League president Julius Malema is expected to address striking workers at Lonmin's Marikana mine on Saturday.
Suspended league spokesperson Floyd Shivambu confirmed Malema would be at the mine at 11am on Saturday.
Shivambu visited the workers on Friday.
"The workers are determined to fight on. There is no talk of retreating, they are determined," he said.
Meanwhile, the ANCYL said the violence that erupted at Lonmin's Marikana mine had been long in the making.
"The signs were loud and clear for all to see during the Impala tragedy," it said in a statement.
"We refused to see them, we were happy to accept then, as we did now, that the problem is and was trade union rivalry."
The league said an exploitative mining regime, capitalist greed, and poverty were to blame.
It also condemned the use of live ammunition in public order policing.
"[We] call on Minister [Nathi] Mthethwa to conduct a full investigation to explain to South Africans how it is that police turned on our people and killed them, when the right to life is paramount."
A total of 34 people were killed in a shootout that erupted near the mine on Thursday when police tried to disperse striking miners.
More than 78 people were injured.
Another 10 people had by then been killed in the violent protests at the mine over the past week.
The protests were believed to be linked to rivalry between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) over recognition agreements at the mine.
Workers also wanted higher wages.
- SAPA
