Honour the victims of Marikana by reforming mining in SA, Mr Ramaphosa

Tomorrow, seven years ago, 34 mineworkers and breadwinners were gunned down by the South African Police Service (SAPS) acting on the direction of senior politicians and government officials. Today we remember those who lost their lives and honour their legacy. These men bravely stood up and protested against what they believed were unjust wages and inhumane living conditions. Instead of being met by meaningful engagement, they were met by live rounds of ammunition from a government far removed from the realities and struggles of daily life in South Africa. This will always be a tragedy that will haunt our nation.

We must honour these brave men, and ensure they are never forgotten. I have again today, as I did last year, written to President Cyril Ramaphosa – a central figure in this massacre – requesting that he officially declares 16 August “Marikana Memorial Day” in honour of the workers killed seven years ago. Given President Ramaphosa’s pledge to “play whatever role he can”, this is the very least he can do to honour the victims of this massacre.

In addition to this, today is not only about justice for the 34 miners who were killed by the ANC government on that fateful day, but the over 500 000 South Africans who work directly for the mines. With at least as many working in associated industries, the mining industry is responsible for approximately 1 million jobs in South Africa and faces profound stress with continual job losses. The mining sector is integral to our economy and is in desperate need of profound reform.

In this light I have also approached President Ramaphosa requesting the establishment of a Mining Task Team in order to oversee much needed reform in the sector. This Task Team ought to compromise of government officials, opposition parties in Parliament, industry experts, union representatives, and representatives from all major mining companies in South Africa. The Task Team must focus on the following:

  • Promoting the mining industry as a key catalyst for investment and exports both locally and internationally;
  • Exploring new evidence-based, safe and sustainable mining options, including offshore oil and gas fracking;
  • Ending illegal mining by increasing competition and opening up the formal mining economy to more players;
  • Exploring the role of local governments in building safer housing communities in mining towns;
  • Reviewing the current Mining Charter; and
  • Drafting proposals on how best to ensure just and meaningful profit sharing exists between mining companies and miners.

Lastly, we must ensure accountability is pursued. Many of the key players involved in the massacre walk free today. Then Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, and former Police Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, have never been prosecuted with Mthethwa still serving in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet. The ANCs culture of zero accountability continues unabated under President Ramaphosa.

The conditions that enabled the Marikana massacre to occur still exist today. President Ramaphosa has the power to honour the victims of Marikana by pursuing the reform of our nation’s mining sector. The time for talk is over, the people of South Africa want action.

Ramaphosa scared of debating Maimane

The ANC has today confirmed that President Ramaphosa is running scared of debating DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane.

Yesterday, the SABC’s Big Debate Show invited both Mmusi Maimane and Cyril Ramaphosa to a televised presidential debate on Sunday 28 April. Mmusi Maimane has welcomed this great initiative and indicated that he was ready and looking forward to going head-to-head with the current President.

Today, the ANC has confirmed that Cyril Ramaphosa is afraid of facing up to the DA Leader. He has again confirmed more empty promises of transparency and accountability, just like his empty promises of acting against corruption.

It has been 25 years since the last presidential debate in South Africa. Since then, the ANC has denied the people of South Africa a proper contest of ideas between its Presidential Candidate and DA Leaders.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s retreat into the safety of Luthuli House confirms that he is no different from his predecessors.  He is simply afraid of accounting for Marikana, Bosasagate and the ANC’s inability to create jobs.

Only Mmusi Maimane and the DA can bring change that builds One South Africa for All and puts a job in every home.

We look forward to bringing this change on 08 May.

Marikana: we need justice, and we need change

The following remarks were delivered today in Marikana by the Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane, at the commemoration of the sixth anniversary of the Marikana massacre.

Today six years ago, 34 mineworkers were killed and 78 injured, many of them critically, because they dared to stand up and speak out about their living conditions and their wages.

These men were shot down, some at point blank range, in these fields and koppies by a government and its police force whose only response to protest is brutality.

A police force that was urged to take strong action against the protesting miners by the man who would go on to be elected ANC president, and by default our president.

This day six years ago was the shameful moment that exposed our government to the world for what it was: not the visionary, compassionate government of Nelson Mandela, but a brutal and authoritarian ANC government that won’t hesitate to turn on its own people.

I have written to President Ramaphosa and asked that he declare 16 August “Marikana Memorial Day” in honour of the workers killed here six years ago. His predecessor, Jacob Zuma, refused to do this, but given President Ramaphosa’s pledge to “play whatever role he can”, I trust that he will agree to this.

This was our country’s great moment of shame. It was a moment for deep self-reflection and remorse. “Never again” said our government, and many of us believed them. We desperately wanted to believe them.

But a few years later this belief was shattered when this same government’s callous actions led to the deaths of 143 mental health patients in Gauteng.

It is now six years since the Marikana killings, and two years since the Esidimeni tragedy was uncovered, and we are yet to see any people or government departments held responsible for all these deaths.

Why not? When will the families of those who died at the hands of this government be given closure through justice? That’s the first question we need to ask.

The second question we need to ask is: What has changed since Marikana? What have we learnt? What are we doing differently? And the answer to this is “not a lot”.

When the miners downed tools in protest back in 2012, times were bleak. Our economy was in trouble, unemployment was high and mining was losing jobs.

Today, six years later, conditions are far worse. We have new record levels of unemployment and poverty, and the mining sector, as a provider of jobs, is in deep crisis.

Implats is about to close down five mines and shed 13,000 jobs, and this week we learnt that Goldfields is looking to cut more than 1,500 jobs at its South Deep mine. South Africa used to be the largest gold producer in the world. We have now dropped all the way down to eighth place.

This is a time when we need to do all we can to keep our mines open and profitable, but instead our government is doing the exact opposite. Through bad legislation and the crony enrichment scheme they call BEE, they have made it very hard for anyone to keep a mining operation open.

While the ANC’s version of BEE has made a handful of connected people very, very rich, it has been a disaster for the thousands of workers who have lost, and will continue to lose their jobs.

Take the BEE deal that Goldfields struck to get their mining licence. Hundreds of millions of Rands ended up the pockets of ANC politicians and their friends. Even the ANC Speaker Baleka Mbete scored R25 million in what was clearly a massive bribe deal.

That’s not empowerment. That’s just plain theft, and this was confirmed in a report by a respected New York law firm. But because they gave it the name “Black Economic Empowerment” the ANC has gotten away with it for decades.

I can assure you, that won’t happen under a DA government. Our empowerment policy will be for the benefit of ordinary South Africans. Instead of making politicians and their friends filthy rich from mining shares, we will give those empowerment shares to the workers on these mines.

Another way to empower these workers is for the money that would have ended up in the pockets of connected cronies through BEE deals to instead be paid into a pension fund for mineworkers. That’s how you empower people through long-term financial independence.

And we will repeat this in every sector of the economy. Empowerment will be for those disempowered by our country’s history, and not for those with the right names and connections.

I can also assure you, a DA government will seek and deliver justice for every life that was lost at the hands of the police here in Marikana.

We will bring change to our beautiful country and return it to the path set back in 1994 by Nelson Mandela. A path which will lead to one common destiny for all South Africans.

Thank you.

DA Leader Maimane calls for the President to declare 16 August Marikana Memorial Day

Tomorrow will mark the sixth anniversary of the tragedy that happened at Marikana on 16 August 2012. 34 mineworkers’ lives were taken by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS).

I have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa today to request that he declare 16 August Marikana Memorial Day to be commemorated each year in honour of the workers who were killed in Marikana six years ago. The President is empowered, through proclamation, to declare any day to be observed and commemorated and I implore him to do the right thing and declare tomorrow a commemorative day.

While similar calls to former President Jacob Zuma fell on deaf ears, we trust that President Ramaphosa will act differently and cede to this request in honour of those who died. This need not be a difficult decision for an administration that has posited itself as a ‘New Dawn.’

We may have seen a change of leadership in the ANC, but this is first and foremost about political accountability.

Such a declaration is in the interests of justice and national unity. It would also go some way in giving meaning to the President’s commitment in his State of the Nation Address to ‘play whatever role [he] can.’

Healing wounds means more than last month’s R100 million settlement offer by the ANC government to families of the victims for general damages. Closure cannot be bought.

Our call will never exist in isolation. The Marikana tragedy will forever be a stain on our national conscience and many in society, including trade unions and political parties, believe that tomorrow should be honoured accordingly.

President Ramaphosa has reassured the nation that he will play whatever role he can. Declaring 16 August Marikana Memorial Day is something the President can and ought to do to honour the lives of those who were tragically killed six years ago.

Marikana: President Zuma rejects my call to declare 16 August a commemorative day

Today, the DA received a flippant response from President Jacob Zuma rejecting my call to him to declare 16 August a commemorative day in honour of the 34 mineworkers who were tragically gunned down by the police in Marikana in 2012.
This tragedy remains a national disaster which the ANC government refuses to account for. Our call is made on behalf of those who died during this week as well as their families and loved ones.  We acknowledged that there have been events that have taken place on this day, but this is not enough. This rejection means the ANC government has turned a blind eye on the wounds that still exists.
The call for a commemorative day on 16 August, is about justice and remembrance of those who lost their lives.
Five years after the horrific massacre, life in Marikana still paints a grim picture of hopelessness and despair.
The family members of the deceased mineworkers continue to suffer as they have been forgotten. Many of the mothers and wives lost their sole breadwinners.
The tragic events of Marikana will remain embedded in our collective memory, forever. We simply cannot forget that fateful day.
It is now clear that the ANC government has washed their hand off the slain Marikana victims.

President Zuma should declare 16 August Marikana Memorial Day

I have today written to President Jacob Zuma requesting that he declare 16 August a commemorative day to be observed annually in honour of those workers who lost their lives in Marikana on 16 August 2012.
Last week marked the fifth anniversary of the Marikana tragedy, where some 34 mineworkers – brothers, fathers, and sons – were killed by members of the South African Police Service. On the day, South Africans from all walks of life joined together in paying their respects to the fallen heroes of Marikana, calling for justice for the victims, and their families and loved ones.
The Marikana tragedy remains a stain on the collective conscience of our nation. We must mark this day as a commemorative one, where we reflect not just on the injustice of that fateful day, but the injustices which still persist throughout our society.
The President has the power to declare any day to be observed and commemorated, via a proclamation. As such, I implore President Zuma, in the interests of justice and national unity, to use this power and declare this day Marikana Memorial Day.
We are not alone in this call. We are joined by many in society, including political parties and trade unions who also believe this day ought to be declared as such.
The President must honour those who lost their lives so tragically by declaring 16 August Marikana Memorial Day

Where is the Justice for Marikana?

DA Leader Mmusi Maimane today visited Nkaneng informal settlement in Marikana to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Marikana massacre, and to visit the South Africans whose lives have been most affected by the tragedy that occurred 1,826 days ago.

“Walking around this town, as I did today, one struggles to find any meaningful development over the past 5 years, despite the myriad of hollow promises by the ANC government.”
– Mmusi Maimane

In Nkaneng, there are no new houses, roads, clinics or basic services. 1,826 days later no justice has been brought to the victims’ families, loved ones, and to the town of Marikana. Not a single person has been criminally prosecuted or taken political responsibility for the tragic events.
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Nathi Mthethwa, then Minister of Police, is still in the Zuma cabinet, North West Police Commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo got to retire comfortably without any accountability, and Riah Phiyega, then National Police Commissioner, walked off scot free.  Even Cyril Ramaphosa refuses to even visit Marikana 5 years on, nor take responsibility for his role, yet believes he ought to be the next president of South Africa.

“Today, those directly involved in the massacre walk free.”
– Mmusi Maimane

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But the real victims of this massacre are often forgotten. These are the women who have been unemployed for years and are desperate for work, the very same women who lost breadwinners on that fateful day in August 2012. Many of these women continue to feel the burden of loss, both emotional and financial.

“While the ANC says they care for the people, their actions show that they care about their own profits. We can’t trust them anymore.”
– Mmusi Maimane

In 2016, the people of Marikana took to the ballot box and shattered the ANC’s majority in the Rustenberg Local Municipality. And come 2019, the people of Marikana, and all South Africans across the North West Province, will punish this corrupt and morally bankrupt ANC at the polls, to usher in a new beginning for our people and for our country.

“It’s time for real justice for the people of Marikana.” – Mmusi Maimane

Marikana: 5 years later, and we’re still waiting for justice

The following remarks were made today by the DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the Nkaneng Koppie in Marikana, to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the Marikana Massacre.
My fellow South Africans,
I greet you with a deep sense of sorrow and loss, as tomorrow marks exactly 5 years since the tragic killing of some 34 men – brothers, fathers, and sons – who were gunned down by the South African Police Service (SAPS) at this very site.
That dreadful day will long remain as a stain on the collective conscience of our country.
Today marks 1826 days since our fellow citizens were killed in broad daylight by the very members of government who are meant to protect them. Yet, to this day, no justice has been brought to the victims’ families, loved ones, and to the town of Marikana. Sadly, the name of this town has come to represent all which is unjust in our society, and in the ANC government.
Walking around this town, as I did today, one struggles to find any meaningful development over the past 5 years, despite the myriad of hollow promises by the ANC government. There are no new houses, roads, clinics or basic services that were promised by the various government departments over the years. The ANC government has truly forgotten about Marikana. ‘
No one has come to apologise for the tragedy, no one has taken accountability, and no one has come forward with solutions.
We are left asking,
Where is the political responsibility?
Where is the compensation and reparations?
Where are the houses and local infrastructure development?
Where are the jobs?
It is an insult that five years later not a single person has been criminally prosecuted or taken political responsibility for the tragic events. Whether you are a Police Commissioner or the Deputy President of South Africa, we maintain that those involved are to be held to account for that fateful day.
The Farlam Commission Report was released over 2 years ago, but nothing has been done since then to provide closure on the greatest tragedy of our young democracy. In fact, those responsible have continued to evade accountability, while the poor of Marikana suffer. The R153 million Commission uncovered the truth, but has so far not led to justice, closure or compensation.
Today, those directly involved in the massacre walk free.
Nathi Mthethwa, then Minister of Police, is still in the Zuma cabinet. Section 206 of the Constitution is clear: political responsibility for the actions of the SAPS falls squarely in the hands of the Minister of Police. Yet instead of Minister Mthethwa being removed from cabinet and criminally charged, he came to Parliament last week to defend Jacob Zuma and all his stealing and corruption in the Motion of No Confidence debate.
What about the North West Police Commissioner Zukiswa Mbombo? She got to comfortably retire even before the Farlam Commission report was released, without any accountability.
Riah Phiyega, then National Police Commissioner, walked off scot free.
And Cyril Ramaphosa refuses to even visit Marikana 5 years on, nor take responsibility for his role, yet believes he ought to be the next president of South Africa.
These politicians and public servants get to carry on with their lives, while the people of Marikana are left without justice and without answers.
Fellow South Africans, I don’t blame you for being angry. The anger you feel is righteous anger indeed. Anger which is fuelled by injustice. If the ANC government walked into my town and murdered citizens using live ammunition, I would be filled with anger. But anger does not bring about justice.
Fellow South Africans, I appeal to you: hit them where it hurts the most. Come 2019, I want you to remember what happened here on that fateful day in August 2012. Take their power away and vote them out of office. Because this ANC government treats the workers of our country like their lives don’t matter. This ANC governs like black lives don’t matter. And we cannot continue to be subject to this any longer.
Today I visited several homes in the Nkaneng informal settlement just across the field. I visited women who have been unemployed for years and are desperate for work. The women of Marikana truly are the forgotten victims. Many lost husbands, fathers, brothers, and breadwinners in their homes. And many still continue to feel the burden of loss, be it emotional or financial.
While the ANC steals your money and gives it to the Zumas and the Guptas, the people of Marikana go hungry.
In fact, the lives of mineworkers will only get worse under Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane. A now well-known Gupta-stooge, Zwane is hell-bent on killing jobs in the mining sector in order to enrich his political masters.
The mining sector is an integral part of our economy as almost 450 000 South Africans work directly for the mines, and at least as many work in associated industries. Yet Minister Gupta – against all good sense – introduced a new Mining Charter which has cost the economy R50 billion and sent the mining sector into disarray. Since then, mining companies have been forced to retrench workers in order stay afloat and remain profitable. Sibanye Gold is set to slash over 7000 jobs, AngloGold up to 8,500 jobs, and Bokoni Platinum over 3000 jobs.
While the ANC says they care for the people, their actions show that their care about their own profits. We can’t trust them anymore.
I’m here to tell you, don’t lose heart. Real change is on its way. The DA has a plan to reverse this decline and put South Africa back on the path to prosperity. Our people have had enough of the ANC taking advantage of us, and placing patronage and profits over the people.
When I was here last year, it was just days after the people of Marikana took to the ballot box and shattered the ANC’s majority in the Rustenberg Local Municipality on 3 August 2016.
And come 2019, the people of Marikana, and all across the North West Province, will punish this corrupt and morally bankrupt ANC at the polls, and usher in a new beginning for our people and for our country.
We have given the ANC too many chances, and the ANC has failed us too many times. It’s time for total change.
It’s time for real justice for the people of Marikana.
Amandla!

Use your vote to change your future

The following remarks were delivered today by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at a public meeting in Stella, North West Province, as part of the #Change19 Tour.
My fellow South Africans,
It’s great to be here in the North West Province, speaking to you about what we can do to build the kind of South Africa that works for all.
Today in this province, in the North-West High Court in Rustenburg, the trial of 19 men accused of killing non-striking miners in Marikana resumes. This trial will bring some closure for the families of the victims and the community of Marikana.
All those responsible for the terrible events that took place in Marikana must face the full might of the law, and their victims must never be forgotten.
My fellow South Africans,
I have been meeting with residents of this Stella community this morning in their homes, speaking to them about the issues that their families are facing. And what I saw and heard here today has saddened me.
If this is the best that this ANC government of Naledi Municipality can do for you, then you need a new government here. The sooner the better. Because what I saw here this morning is not how citizens of this country are meant to live 23 years into our democracy.
I met families struggling to put any kind of food on the table – some even resorting to collecting expired meat dumped by the local butcher.
I met families who have to walk 500m to the only tap in the area to fetch water for their homes. And very often this tap would be dry.
I met families of three generations where the only income is a child support grant – families that can’t afford the basic school uniforms or books, not to mention any kind of studies after school.
I met people still waiting for electricity, taps, flushing toilets – all the things that a caring government is meant to provide for the people they serve. But that doesn’t happen here, because this ANC government has stopped caring a long time ago.
Throughout this municipality, young people have had to abandon their hope of achieving more, because just surviving from day to day is hard enough. We tell our children they can be whatever they can dream, but we forget how impossible this can seem when you can’t see a way out of your current situation.
This can’t be the way forward for the young people of South Africa. We cannot accept that a whole generation will have nothing to look forward to except unemployment, crime, drugs and teenage pregnancy. We cannot tell our children that they must limit their dreams to the size of a social grant.
No, my fellow South Africans, you are not getting the service you deserve from your government, and you must not accept this.
You must not accept that a single Jojo tank has to provide water to a community of 3000 people. And if it wasn’t for the efforts of the former DA candidate here, Don Diedereck, along with your current DA candidate, Alfred Lekgetho, there wouldn’t even be this one tank.
You must not accept the slow pace of housing delivery here. You must not accept the unfair way in which these houses are handed out. And you must not accept that many of these houses don’t even have taps.
You must not accept the fact that many of you don’t have electricity and that many of you have to share pit toilets.
You have every right to expect more from your government. And if you think the government you voted for has let you down, you have every right to change your vote in Wednesday’s by-election and vote for a government that will serve you.
That’s the benefit of this by-election – it allows you a rare second chance to decide what you want for this community here in Ward 1, and for your municipality.
I want to assure you today that if you put your trust in the DA and in our candidate here, Alfred Lekgetho, we will work hard to repay that trust. We will listen to your concerns, we will respond to your needs and we will make sure that the will of the people of Stella is truly represented in this local government.
And if you then feel that a DA ward councillor has made a positive difference to your community, you can go one step further in two years’ time and vote for a DA government here in the North West province, and in South Africa.
Because the big issues that people face here and across the country – unemployment, poverty and lack of opportunities – need to be solved in national government.
We know by now that this ANC government will not and cannot do so. It is time for change – for a new beginning – and only you have the power of the vote to bring that change.
Thank you.

Where is the compensation for Marikana, Mr. Ramaphosa?

The attempt by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to apologise for his role in the Marikana Massacre, which claimed the lives of 36 mineworkers at the hands of the police, is meaningless while the families of the victims still await compensation from his government.
It is a tragic state of affairs that almost five years after the police brutally gunned down Lonmin mineworkers, their families still await compensation from the ANC government.
If Deputy President Ramaphosa is truly remorseful for his part in the Marikana Massacre, he should personally make a significant contribution to fund the Marikana compensation out of his own pocket. He is an extraordinarily wealthy South African, and he could personally compensate the Marikana families for what he has apologised for.
Now that Cyril Ramaphosa is speaking publicly about his role in the escalation of the police operation at Marikana, he must take full responsibility and fund the compensation of the families.
It is not up to any South African to accept Ramaphosa’s apology, except the families of the victims. Although money will never compensate for their loss, it will ease the financial burden left by this tragedy.
Marikana is one of the greatest tragedies in South Africa post-1994, and the fact that these families continue to suffer, is an indictment on the ANC government and their absolute contempt of poor black South Africans.
It is up to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to now show that his apology for Marikana means more than clearing his name in the run-up to the ANC elective conference. It is time for Ramaphosa to personally contribute to funding the Marikana compensation.