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The Star reports that the widows of Marikana miners have complained of living in abject poverty while they wait for compensation following the police massacre of 34 breadwinners six years ago.
Speaking on Wednesday, on the same day as another damning report into the police's shooting of miners striking for better wages was released, the widows said life had not been the same without their husbands. “I sometimes struggle to buy food and electricity. As we speak now, there is no mealie meal in my house,” said Makopano Thelejane. Thursday marks six years since the massacre in which Thelejane lost her husband and the father of her two children, Thabiso Thelejane, when police shot and killed 34 mineworkers. On Wednesday, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) released a damning research report titled "The Sound of Gunfire" into the shooting of mineworkers at what is known as "Scene 2” on 16 August 2012. The report said 57 police officers from four different units had fired 295 bullets at mineworkers at the scene. About 500m away (at Scene 1), police had earlier shot dead 17 men in a fusillade of automatic gunfire, lasting just 12 seconds. "At Scene 2 they took 11 minutes to shoot and kill a further 17 miners, including a group taking cover among rocks and bushes,” said ISS justice and violence prevention head Gareth Newham. Based on the analysis conducted, the conclusion of the report was that it was unlikely that there were any attacks by strikers on the police at Scene 2.
- Read this report by Sibongile Mashaba in full at The Star
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page