COSATU condemns assassination of former NUM shop steward
The Congress of South African Trade Unions is shocked and angered by the brutal murder of Percy Letanang, a former National Union of Mineworkers shop steward at Lonmin's Eastern Platinum mine in Marikana.
He was shot seven times on Sunday 3 November 2013 and rushed to hospital but tragically passed away on Tuesday 5 November 2013.
The federation sends its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and comrades on their loss.
Comrade Letanang recently decided to take a Voluntary Severance Package after Lonmin decided to derecognise the NUM.
COSATU is outraged by the continuation of what are clearly deliberate assassinations of NUM members in the area, and the failure of the police to arrest most of the perpetrators and bring them to justice. In less than three months, four NUM members have been killed in the Rustenburg area. As the NUM ask, in their statement: "How long is blood going to have to flow in Marikana?"
The Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry, signed by government, employers and most unions on 3 July this year, acknowledged that "we face an immediate crisis of violence and anarchy in and around the mines which has already cost far too many lives and it still is putting lives in danger".
The agreement demanded that "the police, the intelligence service and the courts must act effectively and without delay to bring those guilty of violent crimes to justice. Impunity must be rooted out and the confidence in the justice system restored. Government must implement these measures without any further delay."
Yet four months later the murders continue and the climate of impunity remains. COSATU demands that the SAPS and NPA do everything possible to implement that agreement, so that people can walk in the streets in safety and enjoy their constitutional human right to move freely without fear of attack.
Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, November 6 2013
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