14 Years After South Africa’s Marikana Massacre, EFF Demands Ramaphosa Account For Role In 34 Miners’ Killings | Sahara Reporters

On August 16, 2012, police opened fire on striking mineworkers at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in the North West province, killing 34 workers and injuring 78 others. About 250 workers were also arrested during the confrontation.

Fourteen years after South African police killed 34 striking mineworkers at Marikana, the Economic Freedom Fighters has condemned the government’s failure to prosecute those responsible, saying the state has yet to fully account for what it described as a massacre of its own citizens.

The EFF made the declaration on Sunday, as South Africa marks the 14th anniversary of the Marikana massacre, one of the deadliest incidents involving state security forces since the end of apartheid.

On August 16, 2012, police opened fire on striking mineworkers at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in the North West province, killing 34 workers and injuring 78 others. About 250 workers were also arrested during the confrontation.

The miners had been demanding improved wages and better living conditions.

In its anniversary statement, the EFF said the workers were “not criminals, not a mob, but fathers, brothers, and sons standing together for a wage that would let them feed their families.”

“Fourteen years later, we say again what we said then, that they were right to demand what was theirs,” the party said.

The EFF also renewed its criticism of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was a director and shareholder of Lonmin at the time of the massacre.

The party cited evidence presented before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry, particularly emails in which Ramaphosa called for “concomitant action” against the striking workers in the days preceding the police shootings.

According to the EFF, Ramaphosa has never been made to fully account for his role in the events before a court and has not delivered the formal apology demanded by the victims’ families and survivors.

The party further linked the Marikana controversy to the long-running Phala Phala scandal involving cash allegedly kept at Ramaphosa’s private farm, accusing the President of evading accountability.

“Four years after Phala Phala broke, the impeachment inquiry remains frozen in the courts, while fourteen years after Marikana, no one has ever been convicted for the deaths of those 34 workers,” the EFF said.

The party also criticised the government’s handling of compensation for the victims and their families.

It said the state had paid approximately R352 million in total Marikana-related compensation, while 34 of the 36 families represented by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute had received about R71 million in loss-of-support payments.

However, the EFF said compensation for psychological trauma suffered by survivors and families remained unresolved, with two of the 36 families still awaiting a resolution.

It also accused the National Prosecuting Authority of failing to prosecute anyone over the killings.

“The National Prosecuting Authority has never prosecuted a single person for the killing of 34 mineworkers,” the party said.

The EFF noted that police officers were acquitted in 2024, after which the NPA said it would reinstate the matter and conduct a formal inquest.

However, the party said victims’ families remained without clarity on when, or whether, the process would be completed.

The EFF said the state had also failed to formally acknowledge Marikana as a massacre committed by police against citizens while protecting the interests of a mining company.

The party said its political identity was rooted in the events at Marikana, noting that it was founded in the aftermath of the killings.

“The EFF exists because of Marikana,” the party said. “When we chose our name, our colour, and our politics, we chose them in the shadow of that hillside.”

The party linked the continued economic hardship facing South Africans to the grievances that sparked the miners’ protest.

It cited unemployment of 33.6 per cent, with 8.5 million people reportedly out of work, while youth unemployment stood at 47.4 per cent.

The EFF said rising living costs, increasing fuel prices, a food basket costing more than R5,500 per month and declining purchasing power had left working-class South Africans bearing the burden of economic hardship.

“This is the same exploitation the Marikana miners stood against: an economy that expects working-class and poor South Africans to absorb every shock while those at the top remain untouched,” the party said.

The EFF said it would continue to campaign for economic reforms, including improved wages, free basic services, job creation and greater opportunities for local businesses.

“This week, Statistics South Africa confirmed that unemployment has climbed to 33.6%, with 8.5 million people now out of work and youth unemployment sitting at 47.4%,” the party said.

The EFF said it would take its campaign for economic freedom into the local government elections scheduled for November 4.

“We honour the 34 by refusing to let their deaths become history without consequence, and we honour them by continuing the fight for the economic dignity they never lived to see,” the party said.