Rising rage of Marikana strikers detailed

28 June 2015 - 02:01 By ANDRÉ JURGENS and Staff Reporters

Frustration rapidly turned into deadly aggression by strikers in the days leading up to the tragedy at Marikana. The 646-page Farlam report describes how their mood shifted from peaceful to threatening after mine management refused to meet their demands."The mood of the crowd was peaceful. Some of the workers had sticks in their hands, but nothing dangerous," was how Captain Veerasamy Velayudam Govender, the commander of visible policing at Marikana, described strikers at Wonderkop stadium on Friday August 10.Lonmin security officers told the commission how miners carrying sticks and knobkerries marched on the same day to Lonmin Platinum offices.They had wanted to meet management because they were illiterate and could not write down their demands. Upon learning that management was not willing to negotiate, the security officers noted the "crowd showed their displeasure, displayed aggressive behaviour and intimated that management would have to take the consequences".story_article_left1Given the history of turbulent labour disputes in the area, the level of discontent proved in retrospect to have been an early warning of what was to come.Further clues could be found in Lonmin's occurrence book in which growing signs of anger were recorded at various incidents in the days before the clash on the koppie.The first was at 4.30pm at the National Union of Mineworkers' Wonderkop offices on August 10. Later entries stated that commuters using pangas and knobkerries prevented employees going to work and that rubber bullets were fired by security to disperse groups.Strikers were later recorded "jeering, threatening and swearing" at security members.The next day protesters marched, some carrying spears, to the NUM offices where, the commission learned, there was a stockpile of "weapons such as knobkerries, sticks and spears ... which was not ordinarily the case". It was a sign that both sides were arming.Fear gripped the 20 NUM members who decided to protect the office as it came under attack. They then fired shots at the crowd, driving them back.An indication of how the mood shifted towards killing opponents rather than acting in self-defence was revealed in the evidence of a protester who told the commission he was armed with a stick on August 10 but six days later carried a butcher's knife and sharpened iron rod. Asked why he changed weapons, he said it was because "we were attacked by NUM".block_quotes_start One striker moved his spear across his throat as if to slit his throat block_quotes_endBy August 12 the protesters appeared not to be deterred by rubber bullets. Two security officials who fired rubber bullets were attacked and injured by advancing strikers."One striker moved his spear across his throat as if to slit his throat, conveying a message that they were going to slaughter them," was the mine security version of events in the report."Their facial expressions were hostile, and they were shouting and taunting the security officers, looking for a reaction. This was very different to any crowd behaviour [the security officers] had witnessed in the past."Police evidence suggested an extremely hostile group by Thursday August 16, when protesters threw rocks and sharp objects at armoured police vehicles and shot at them.The fury of the protesters - whether they were trying to flee the police or attack them - ended in a brief but bloody staccato of automatic weapons fire.sub_head_start Lonmin's attitude informed by arrogance, dismissal and lack of honesty sub_head_endOne of Lonmin's key indicators for a successful company is having employees live and work safely and "experience the personal satisfaction that comes with high performance and recognition". But while the mining company's assertion might appear laudatory, the findings of the Marikana commission of inquiry make a mockery of this.Instead of recognising its employees when they embarked on an illegal strike that turned violent between August 10 and 16 2012, Lonmin persisted in turning its face away from its workers, seeking refuge in the protection of "proper structures".To the company, the strikers had become "faceless" criminals, intent on breaking down bargaining structures with their demands for a R12500 salary.story_article_right2Its engagement with strikers largely driven by its head of human resources, Barnard Mokwena, the company went out of its way to rebuff the miners.Throughout the Farlam report, a picture emerges of a company whose attitude is informed by arrogance, dismissal and a certain lack of honesty:On August 13 2012, when Lonmin management met with national police commissioner Riah Phiyega and her colleagues, they again denounced their workers as "faceless" and not known to them. Instead, they tried to portray the strike as originating from the rivalry between the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union;Lonmin secretly recorded its meeting with the North West police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo, without her knowledge, later handing it to the commission;At the meeting, Mokwena insisted that Lonmin's priority was to get people arrested;When Mokwena met with Amcu and NUM leaders, he stressed that Lonmin wanted to address the strikers' concerns "in the most civilised manner without pangas and guns"; andWhen the unions' presidents agreed to address the strikers, Mokwena refused to accompany them, again insisting his company would only deal with the miners in a controlled environment.story_article_left1Throughout the report, Lonmin soft-soaps its responsibility and duty toward those miners who continued arriving for work as well as the security the company employed. Having used a community station to exhort workers to return to the mine, it failed to use the same mechanism to tell them to stay home - even as the mining bosses knew the violence was spiralling out of control.Despite giving the situation a "double red security status", Lonmin did not take adequate precautions to minimise risk.Its disregard for workers' safety was exemplified in its return-to-work call - even while being well aware of widespread intimidation. Farlam uses language such as "reckless", "judgmental error", and "inexcusable" to describe the company's behaviour.But, as Lonmin's current CEO Ben Magara said this week, his company had escaped the harshest condemnation.Since 2012, Lonmin has offered the victims' relatives replacement jobs at Marikana. Like most of the players in the events that led to the shooting, Lonmin is merely found "partially to blame for the death of their employees" and "bears a measure of responsibility for the injuries and deaths of its employees and those of its sub-contractors"jurgensa@sundaytimes.co.za..

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