DA Leader Maimane calls for the President to declare 16 August Marikana Memorial Day
15 August 2018
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.