 | This article's lead section may be too long. (July 2023) |
| Lonmin Strike | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 The EPC section of Lonmin Platinum, with Bapong in the foreground | |||
| Date | 10 August 2012 – 20 September 2012 | ||
| Location | |||
| Resulted in | 11–22% wage increase | ||
| Parties | |||
| Casualties and losses | |||
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The Marikana massacre was the killing of thirty-four miners by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on 16 August 2012 during a six-week wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine at Marikana near Rustenburg in South Africa's North West province. The massacre constituted the most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since the Soweto uprising in 1976[1] and has been compared to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre.[2][3][4]
The massacre occurred on the seventh day of an illegal wildcat strike at the mine: although the initial strikers were primarily rock drill operators belonging to the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the strike action was launched without NUM endorsement. The strikers sought a sizeable wage increase, to R12,500 monthly, to be negotiated outside the existing collective wage agreement. Early reports, later denied, suggested that they had been encouraged in this demand by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the NUM's more militant and fast-growing rival. When the NUM refused to represent their demands and Lonmin refused to meet with them, the aggrieved mineworkers launched the strike on 10 August 2012. On 11 August, senior representatives of the NUM opened fire on the strikers as they marched towards the NUM's office; two wounded strikers were wrongly reported killed, vastly heightening tensions.
Between 12 August and 14 August, violence escalated among the strikers, the SAPS, and private security officers employed by Lonmin. During this period, as the strikers armed themselves and additional police forces were deployed to Marika, ten people were killed. Five of them – three strikers and two SAPS members – were killed in a single confrontation on 13 August. In addition, two Lonmin security officers were killed on 12 August, and three other Lonmin mine employees were killed in isolated incidents for which strikers are presumed to be responsible. Failed attempts to negotiate a peaceful resolution were launched by SAPS and the leadership of both Amcu and the NUM.
The massacre on 16 August was the result of the decision by SAPS forcibly to disperse the striking mineworkers, who throughout the week had gathered on a public koppie (Afrikaans for a small hilltop) neighbouring the mine. The shooting took place at two locations, roughly 500 metres away from each other, with 17 people fatally wounded at each location. The vast majority of fatalities were killed by R5 assault rifle fire. The official figure for strikers injured during the shooting is 78.
The Lonmin strike ended on 18 September, when a collective wage agreement was signed which secured an average wage increase of 11 to 22 per cent for Lonmin mineworkers; after six weeks, the strikers returned to work on 20 September. In the interim, however, similar wildcat strikes, often with identical wage demands and sometimes leading to further violent clashes, were initiated at other mines across South Africa. This wave of strikes led President Jacob Zuma to deploy the national military to the platinum-mining belt in mid-September and collectively made 2012 the most protest-filled year in the country since the end of apartheid.[5]
In the aftermath of the massacre, 270 Lonmin mineworkers were arrested and, under the common purpose doctrine, charged with the murder of their colleagues on 16 August; the charges were ultimately dropped amid public outcry. An official commission of inquiry, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam, concluded its investigation in 2015 but was ambivalent in assigning blame for the massacre, criticising the police's strategy and actions but also criticising the conduct of the strikers, unions, and mine management.
- ^ "South African police open fire as striking miners charge, killing and wounding workers". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 16 August 2012. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ^ Rathbone, Mark; Boettger, Jaco (20 December 2016). "The Marikana Massacre, labour and capitalism: Towards a Ricoeurian alternative". Koers - Bulletin for Christian Scholarship. 81 (3): 10–16. doi:10.19108/KOERS.81.3.2263. ISSN 2304-8557.
- ^ Richard Stupart (16 August 2012). "The Night Before Lonmin's Explanation". African Scene. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ^ "Marikana mine shootings revive bitter days of Soweto and Sharpeville". the Guardian. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ Maeve McClenaghan (18 October 2012). "South African massacre was the tip of an iceberg". The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.