The mining sector and all stakeholders needed to contribute to creating an environment that encourages investment, higher inclusive growth and development, which results in much lower levels of unemployment, Mineral Council South Africa said yesterday as it commemorated 10 years since the Marikana massacre.
The Marikana bloodbath led to 34 people, mostly striking miners, being killed and 78 people wounded at a hill near Lonmin's platinum mining operations in Marikana, near Rustenburg, in North West.
A total of 47 people were killed between August 12 and 16, 2012.
The Mineral Council said that among the solutions mining companies implemented since that time were improved wages and assisting employees with indebtedness by introducing financial counselling and stopping creditors’ garnishee orders against their salaries.
Since 2012, wages for employees in the platinum sector had nearly doubled, rising by 91.4 percent. In the broader mining industry, wages had grown by 86.5 percent, it said.
“Another sea change has been the higher levels of local employment of South Africans on mines, largely drawn from communities, to gradually replace migrant workers from neighbouring countries, increasing the flow of financial benefit from mines into communities and the domestic economy. At about 35 000 of 460 000 employees, the number of migrant workers from neighbouring countries is a quarter of the levels of a decade ago,” the Council said.
Meanwhile, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called for the compensation of all the Marikana massacre victims, including those killed before the Marikana tragedy.
The union said it would also like to see the immediate implementation of the social labour plans (SLPs) that would directly address the issue of housing and local economic development.
“This unfortunate event by so far exposed the lack of integration of the industry and the national transformation, by way of giving black mineworkers sufficient compensation and proper accommodation to reclaim their human dignity. It also exposed the mining bosses’ inability to implement social labour plans to address issues of local economic development,” NUM said.
At this point, nothing had been done to improve the lives of mineworkers and their immediate communities, it said.
Political party Inkatha Freedom Party said: “Today marks 10 years since the tragic and senseless shooting of dozens of striking mineworkers at Marikana.
“As the IFP, we are deeply concerned: not only has the Marikana massacre left an indelible, bloody stain upon our democracy, but to date, there has been no justice for the victims and their families,” it said.
Civil society group Abahlali baseMjondolo said the widows and orphans remained without answers.
“Not one person has been arrested and convicted for the murders. Once again we have seen that if you are poor and black, you can be killed with impunity,” the group said.
The group said workers continued to suffer in mines where politicians in the ANC were shareholders. They continued to dig gold and platinum for low wages.
“We stand with the Marikana workers who fought a good fight. We stand with their families. It is the struggles from below that are working for a real ‘better life for all, not these hypocrites in the ANC who just want to take the place of the coloniser for themselves,” it said.
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