Thousands Attend Funeral for South African Miners

Thousands of people packed a memorial service for 34 South African mine workers.

They were shot by police in a dispute over pay. Host Marco Werman talks to the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko who was at the service.

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman and this is “The World”. Today, in South Africa thousands of people packed a memorial service for thirty-four dead mine workers.

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Werman: The service was held at the Marikana platinum mine where police opened fire on workers striking for better pay. It was the largest of several events held across the country. The BBC’s Nomsa Maseko was at the Marikana service. She says the government tried to organize an official memorial, but people in Marikana refused to go.

Nomsa Maseko: We saw the government having to abandon the venue in which they were going to set up their own memorial service because residents were saying they do not want to join them. The government officials were then forced to come and show face where the memorial service organized by local community members was held because the government has been seriously blamed for what is happening here. Local community members are still demanding answers, saying that even though the President has now set up a judicial commission of inquiry and has announced the terms of reference for this commission, it is very little consolation for what they are going through.

Werman: I mean it sounds like politics entered this service, this memorial ceremony.

Maseko: You know, it was inevitable. Early this morning the mood was sombre. We were looking at religious leader and traditional healers and traditional leaders saying to community members, “Calm down. We understand your pain. The government is trying to do all it can for you in terms of helping to bury your loved ones.” But shortly after or as soon as politicians started taking to the podium, the whole service changed into that of political scoring because we saw the expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema who stood and he accused President Jacob Zuma’s government of not caring about black people in this country, saying that, “You have now started a mining revolution,” and, “Do not stop until those wage demands that you want are met.”

Werman: For the families at the ceremony, families who lost loved ones in the shooting, what did they make of this kind of political theater while they’re trying to have a moment?

Maseko: Emotions were flying high here. A lot of people were actually saying that the government should not have come here, but it is very important to note that police officers were not present at this vicinity where this memorial service is taking place because you would recall that mine workers say they were protesting in peace last week when the police shot at them. So they are accusing police of shooting them dead, unprovoked.

Werman: The other thing that Marikana has signaled for some commentators is the degree to which labor unions seem to be losing power in South Africa, whereas they once had a much closer relationship to political circles like the ruling party, the African National Congress. Is that being discussed?

Maseko: It is being discussed because we are seeing here the biggest trade union, the congress of South African trade unions, COSATU, which has formed an alliance with the government, so therefore ordinary workers who want their working conditions improved saying that the government and these labor unions don’t care about them because they are putting their own concerns first ahead of the workers’.

Werman: So they feel abandoned by their own unions?

Maseko: They do feel abandoned because they are saying that if trade unions were not aligned with the ruling African National Congress, they would be in a better position to bargain for better salaries.

Werman: Has this incident led to soul searching about pay and conditions at other mines across the country?

Maseko: Yes, it has. In fact, yesterday, we were looking at two mines, first being the Anglo American mine. The mine did concede that its workers were looking or demanding better salaries, but were not on strike. But at a nearby Royal Bafokeng mine, around a thousand rock drillers refused to go underground. They stood near the shafts, saying that they want to be addressed by their bosses, demanding better pay. So it looks as if these other mining companies are scrambling to keep their employees happy to avoid this situation.

Werman: And finally, Nomsa, where does all this leave the miners’ grievances in Marikana over pay and working conditions that led to this strike in the first place?

Maseko: At this stage negotiations are not taking place because of the obvious mourning. And miners are expected to go back to work next week, but they are saying that that they are not going back to work. That means that thirty-four of their colleagues who have died would have died in vain if they go back to work without increased salaries and improved conditions.

Werman: The BBC’s Nomsa Maseko in South Africa.

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