SAFTU COMMEMORATES THE 12TH OF THE MARIKANA MASSACRE
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) raises its flags in remembrance of the 34 mineworkers who laid down their lives in pursuit of decent wages to raise the living standards of the black working class. The state, whose real character had been hidden by the triumphant euphoria of the 1994 liberal democratic victory, was exposed by the Marikana Massacre.
By taking the side of the mine bosses, all pretences of an ANC that had a ‘bias in favour of the working class’ were exposed. It is the former General Secretary of the mineworkers’ powerful union, Cyril Ramaphosa, who turned into a mine boss, that instructions were issued to clamp down on the mine strike, ending in what appears to be a premeditated murder.
This was all done in defence of the multinational corporation, London Mine (Lonmin). In the lead-up to these horrendous events, ten workers (including security officers and two police officials) were killed. The mineworkers, who were part of the strike that spread throughout the platinum belt, demanded a minimum living wage of R12 500 per month.
Given the current political developments, it is important to note that Jacob Zuma presided over the political machinery that massacred the mineworkers. Despite the attempts to politically dry-clean and project him as a long-standing revolutionary, Marikana Day reminds us that he was a whip-cracker in the service of international capital against the workers.
Marikana, a political watershed
The Marikana Massacre will undoubtedly go through the annals of history as a watershed moment in the history of this country post-apartheid. It was a watershed in many ways, though the left has bungled this moment.
Firstly, it was a watershed because it clarified for the first time since 1994 that the African National Congress (ANC) champions the interests of the capitalist class. The interests that prevailed over the others in the so-called multiclass party were those of the bosses. If 1996’s policy of GEAR was an abstract expression of its class allegiance to working people, the mowing of workers in blood was a concrete expression and manifestation of its allegiance.
Secondly, it exposed the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which, despite its heroic history, has turned into a collaborator with mine bosses. This collaboration was marked by the mineworkers’ resistance against the NUM leadership and the formation of the strike committees. These strike committees signified the political resistance against this collaboration and the formation of an alternative center of power.
Thirdly, it showed that COSATU’s alliance with the ANC had tied workers to the pro-capitalist policies. These are policies that have engineered the mass joblessness and mass poverty of the black working-class majority. Therefore, the alliance was unjustifiable.
Consequently, the massacre took the debate on the relevance of the Tripartite Alliance in COSATU to its logical conclusion. It forced all workers to confront the irrelevance of the Tripartite Alliance between COSATU, the Communist Party and the ANC. These debates gave birth to sinister plans to expel COSATU’s biggest affiliate, NUMSA, and the General Secretary of COSATU, Cde Zwelinzima Vavi (now GS of SAFTU). On this basis, the Marikana massacre infuriated hundreds of thousands of workers and thereby catalysed the birth of SAFTU.
Pursuit for Justice
Twelve years on, we are not only commemorating the history of these courageous martyrs, but we are still in pursuit of justice for their unjustified deaths, the injured and their families. Thus far, the state has paid a tokenistic R330 million to more than 300 miners and their families, including compensation to those who were unlawfully arrested. It refuses to compensate some families.
The Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), which has represented the victims and their families, reports that the state is refusing to compensate some families. The state’s intransigent attitude, on whose behalf Fhedzisani Pandelani remarked that “people still flock back,” corroborates this.
SERI says that Thobile Mpumza’s family (who was killed with 13 bullets on 16 August 2012) has been refused compensation, with the government citing that Mpumza “did not have a legal obligation to support his siblings and their children.” Beyond that, this carefree attitude is unacceptable; it reflects that the government does not appreciate the reality of its people, which is that many people live in extended families where the majority are unemployed.
The employed breadwinners carry the burden of unemployment in these extended families. The concept of breadwinner is born out of the condition of mass joblessness among black working-class households, where only one member is employed. In the absence of state social security, such as the Basic Income Grant (BIG), which the state refuses to introduce, the social wage of these households is carried by the employed members. So, it baffles us that the government refuses to compensate the siblings and their children for losing their breadwinner brother and uncle. This is absolutely disgusting and detestable. SAFTU demands that the government approve compensation for Thobile’s family.
Minimum Living Wage
There is no fitting tribute to the martyrs of the Marikana Massacre than to continue with their battle for a minimum living wage whilst building political organisations of the working class to fight for the takeover of the capitalist class and abolishment of the capitalist system.
In 2019, a National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act was passed. Though we lobbied and agreed with the principle of establishing a minimum floor of wages, we did not agree with the NMW rate that was agreed to at the time, and we do not agree with the rate today of R27,58. In the spirit of Marikana mineworkers, we launched a campaign against this poverty NMW, though we were defeated after we embarked on the biggest general strike of the 2010s.
Today, R27,58 translates into R4 633 for workers working 40 hours per week and 21 days per month. This minimum wage is insufficient compared to the cost of a basic food basket for average households. The latest Household Affordability Index by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group shows that the average household food basket costs R5 252 15 per month. Therefore, the current minimum wage cannot afford a mere household food basket, excluding hygienic products, rent, municipal services and transport to work and school. These basic necessities reproduce a worker, allowing them to render their labour power daily.
SAFTU continues to demand a national minimum living wage of R12 500. However, after 12 years with cumulative inflation of 63,2%, the demand for a living wage has to be increased upward from R12 500. The Living Wage South Africa Network has revealed that this living wage could be R15 000 monthly, especially in urban areas.
