MANYANE MANYANE
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) says the deaths of the Stilfontein illegal miners are reminiscent of the Marikina massacre.
The federation said hunger has been used as a weapon to achieve the same outcome in Stilfontein.
The Marikana massacre in 2012 saw 34 mineworkers shot dead by police during a six-week at Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg in North West.
A total of 132 illegal miners have been brought to the surface and arrested for illegal mining. At least 60 bodies of miners have also been extracted from the mine shaft.
The operation, which started in August last year at the mine, saw the cutting off of food and water supplies for months in an attempt to force the miners to the surface so that they could be arrested.
The government has started using a metal cage to recover the miners and bodies from the shaft in an operation that is expected to run for days.
Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the government’s “inhumane and callous” response, particularly the statements by the Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, likening the operation to “smoking them out,” demonstrates a shocking disregard for human life.
“This rhetoric, combined with the lack of urgency to rescue these miners, amounts to state-sanctioned murder,” said Vavi, adding that the videos circulating of government officials overseeing the “smoking out” of miners confirm the deliberate nature of their actions.
“This tragedy is eerily reminiscent of the Marikana massacre, where 34 miners were killed by live ammunition in a premeditated act of state violence. In Stilfontein, hunger has been used as a weapon to achieve the same deadly outcome.
This is nothing short of the systematic killing of 59 workers, with the death toll likely to rise as more bodies are recovered. The cold, nonchalant manner in which government officials, including Minister Gwede Mantashe, treat this needless massacre is a testament to how cheap black life is,” Vavi said.
He said if pathological tests confirm that starvation was the cause of death, “Saftu will spare no effort in ensuring that those responsible within the government are held accountable”.
“South Africa is not a banana republic where the state can act with impunity. The Constitution and international law demand justice, and Saftu will fight for it,” he said.
The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (Giwusa) on Monday also said miners were dying because of a police-backed deprivation of food and water, while the miners could not come up to surrender.
The labour union said this was a culmination of a policy pursued by the government.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu expressed regret over the deaths of the miners following his visit to Stilfontein on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the DA has called on Ramaphosa to immediately establish an Independent Commission of Inquiry into all aspects of what happened at the mine. The party wants those who have been derelict in their duty to be sanctioned so that the same situation does not occur again.
The party said with 60 bodies recovered so far, it was clear that the scale of the disaster equals the fears of many people.
“That prompts the question as to why the situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand. Related to this are questions about the lack of police ability to establish the true situation underground, or worse, their knowledge of the true situation which was neither made public nor acted on. It must be asked whether the police feel constrained by the rule of law or whether they are prepared to use vengeance and punishment as acceptable ways of fighting illegal mining,” said the DA’s James Lorimer.