Grief kills mine mom

The elderly mother of a miner collapsed and died after being told he had been killed in the Marikana massacre.

The shock of hearing that police shot dead Phumzile Sokhanyile was too much for his mother, who died minutes after being rushed to an Eastern Cape hospital.

This emerged yesterday as ANC heavyweights pleaded with the Lonmin mine in North West not to fire its striking workers and join the country in observing a week of mourning, as called for by President Jacob Zuma.

The National Assembly will hold a special sitting today to reflect on the "national tragedy" at the North West mine.

While police yesterday described the scene of Thursday's bloodbath - in which 34 miners were gunned down - as "stable but tense", thousands of workers, some still armed with pangas and iron rods, gathered in the sun to draw up a memorandum of demands.

Nothing anyone said, including messages of support from an interministerial task team and political and union leaders, could persuade some miners to retreat.

At the mine, emotions ran high as thousands of defiant and angry striking workers took turns to speak at a community meeting.

But about 35km from the volatile miners, the task team, led my Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane, met to discuss how the government could assist the families of those killed last week.

Speaking to the media after the task team's first day in Rustenburg, Chabane, flanked by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said the priority was to assist families of the deceased make funeral arrangements.

"[We will] facilitate the payment of necessary benefits to affected families and provide support to members of the bereaved families and the injured through a dedicated team of social workers who will be stationed in the area, while providing alternative care for the orphaned children," Chabane said.

He said the team would rope in the services of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to "help in dispute resolution and to find a lasting solution to current challenges" at the Lonmin mine.

The ministers went to the morgue to comfort affected families, who cried uncontrollably. Others, led by Mthethwa, went to meet Lonmin management.

But all this was cold comfort for Sokhanyile's family, who suffered a double tragedy.

"It was too much for her [his mother] to take. It is just so sad. Our family has lost a brother, husband, father and then his mother died after hearing about his death," said a relative, Thokozile Sokhanyile, who is the mayor of Ngqeleni municipality.

Miner Phumzile Sokhanyile was married with five children and supported his mother. "It's been very tough for all of us," said Thokozile.

At Marikana, workers vowed to continue striking until Lonmin, the world's third-biggest producer of platinum, heeded their call for a monthly salary increase from R4000 to R12500.

Lonmin said yesterday the Marikana mine had reopened but no ore was produced after less than a third of staff turned up for work.

It said a deadline for striking miners to return to work or face dismissal had been extended to today.

Xolani Ndzuza, the leader of the striking workers, however, said they would not return to work until the blood that was spilled last week was repaid with a salary adjustment.

Ndzuza said that, in addition to the salary demands, police should release "without bail" the 260 workers who were arrested on Thursday.

"I am hurting because I saw my fellow comrade that I led from the front with get shot.

"Now, as I speak to you, my comrade is not here," Nduduza said before breaking down in front of the crowd.

He was making the demands as the 260 of his colleagues were remanded in custody following their first appearance in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate's Court on charges of public violence.

The miners - most still in blood-stained clothes and one with a bloodied towel wrapped around an arm - appeared 40 at a time because the court room was too small to accommodate everyone at once.

Before the court proceedings, Marikana women protested outside, demanding the release of their husbands.

The women screamed every time each of the four trucks ferrying the accused into the court passed.

Police kept a close eye on proceedings, with six officers standing guard at benches where the accused were sitting and which were cordoned off with police tape.

Magistrate Essau Bodigelo ruled that because of the magnitude of the case and the fact that more charges, including murder, might be added against the accused, it was in the interest of justice for the accused to remain in custody pending police investigations.

The men - who are being represented by an attorney arranged by the Friends of the Youth League - will appear again on Monday.

Suspended ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu, who was also present in court, will today accompany the Marikana community to the local police station to open charges of murder against officers involved in the shooting.

"They must face the law ... you cannot kill and not be held accountable. They must prove in the court of law that they acted in self-defence," he said.