Marikana report fails to highlight that tragedy could have been prevented – Solidarity

26 June 2015

Trade union Solidarity today said the Farlam Commission’s report on the Marikana incident doesn’t make the point that the tragedy could have been prevented. The Marikana massacre was preceded by unruly gatherings at which protesters carried dangerous weapons. The trade union is of the opinion that protesters should therefore have been arrested at that stage already, something the report fails to mention.

Solidarity General Secretary Gideon du Plessis says while the trade union would still study the report in detail, it is clear at first glance that the report doesn’t elaborate on the origin of the conflict situation.  

“The Marikana massacre is the direct result of the way in which law-breaking, be it serious or less serious, is dealt with in South Africa, that is, to ignore it until a crisis situation develops. The protest action initially started in the form of a few hundred armed Lonmin marchers. No action was taken by the police at that stage to stop the illegal action despite there being legislation prohibiting the carrying of dangerous weapons during gatherings,” Du Plessis said.

“The result was an action that got out of control. Eventually, thousands of demonstrators, a great many of them being neither Lonmin employees nor miners, became part of the protest action,” Du Plessis said.

Correcting misconceptions

Du Plessis expressed the hope that the report would correct the misconception that the massacre was the result of a wage dispute between Lonmin miners and their employer.

“It was more a case of a disorderly march emanating from frustrated members of the community. While there is compassion for and empathy with the challenging social conditions so many families in mining communities are enduring, we believe that in the case of Marikana the community exploited and exacerbated the labour dispute,” Du Plessis said.

Emphasis on violence

For Solidarity, the importance of the report actually lies in the emphasis placed on violence during strikes, the danger of singing seditious songs and of carrying dangerous weapons.

“Last year’s five month long platinum strike was also marked by unprecedented levels of violence and intimidation, which was also indicative of the Marikana incident. This new spiral of unprecedented violence must be broken and labour laws should be more stringent so that such a dysfunctional strike could be declared unprotected in future,” Du Plessis said.

Du Plessis added that a tense undercurrent is already present at this year’s gold negotiations currently underway in Boksburg, precisely due to the singing of seditious songs during the negotiations. “The content of these songs are mostly negative references to people of other trade unions and racial groups. The singing of these songs should not be permitted,” Du Plessis said. 

Timing is suspect

Du Plessis added that the timing of the publication of the report was extremely suspect. “The report followed shortly after the damning Aurora court ruling and the Omar Al-Bashir embarrassment. One cannot but speculate that this was intentional in order to overshadow the negative events mentioned,” Du Plessis said.

Nonetheless, Solidarity praised Judge Ian Farlam for the way in which the Commission dealt with the investigation. “The Farlam Commission’s recommendations regarding violence during strikes should be implemented as soon as possible. These recommendations can be a major contribution to end the destructive spiral of violence and intimidation during strikes,” Du Plessis concluded.

Statement issued by Gideon du Plessis, General Secretary: Solidarity, June 26 2015