Background on South Africa - The Struggle Against the Mine
Owners - Differing Views

* Our condolences and sympathies to the Marikana and Pomeroy
  Victims - Blade Nzimande, SACP General Secretary in
  Umsebenzi Online - August 23
* The Marikana Massacre reveals the depths of the fault lines
  in South Africa - Sahra Ryklief in Amandla! (August 23)
* IndustriALL condemns wild killings at South African Lonmin
  mine - IndustriALL Global Union - August 17

=====

Our condolences and sympathies to the Marikana and Pomeroy
Victims

by Blade Nzimande, SACP General Secretary

Umsebenzi Online
August 23, 2012 - Volume 11, No. 30

http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=3724#redpen

Today the SACP joins millions of South Africans, especially
the workers and the poor, in expressing our condolences and
sympathies to all those who lost their loved ones and friends
during the week of violence at Lonmin in the North-West, as
well as all those who passed away from acts of violence in the
week preceding this tragedy. Indeed thousands of our communist
cadres will be participating in the various memorial services
in different parts of the country, also in remembrance of
those who perished in Pomeroy in KwaZulu-Natal.

The SACP once more wishes to acknowledge the leadership taken
by the President, Cde Jacob Zuma, in appointing a Judicial
Commission of Enquiry and a team of ministers to attend to the
immediate needs of affected families and communities. The SACP
plans to make its own submission to the Commission of Enquiry,
as this is an opportunity for serious consideration and
analyses of the nature of the mining industry in South Africa,
and its vulnerability to produce this kind of violence.

In addition the SACP is also of the view that a closer study
and analyses of living conditions in the mines and its
surroundings will also go a long way in addressing the
conditions of the working class and communities in the mining
areas.

In all of the understandable fury, anger (about the
unnecessary spilling of blood of the working class at Lonmins
in Marikana), very few have pointed to the history and current
trajectory of the mining industry in South Africa as the
principal culprit in all this. This is not for purposes of
laying blame for the sake of it, but to contribute towards a
better understanding of the totality of the reasons behind
this tragedy.

For instance the mining industry in South Africa has been
prone to violence since the beginnings of its unionization
over a century ago. Some of the major strikes by workers have
historically been met with brutal violence, from the 1922 Rand
Revolt, to the 1946 Great Mineworkers Strike and the 1987 NUM-
led strike. We also have to look at the mining bosses history
into using tribal and ethnic differences to try and fragment
the working class in order to control it better.

The question of what are essentially backward beliefs and
practices amongst sections of the working class is something
that also as the SACP and the progressive trade union movement
we will have to tackle as a matter of urgency and ongoing
attention. Just how does a sangoma is today still able to
convince sections of the working class that bullets turn into
water if you have used `intelezi`, is something that we should
no longer be talking about in a hush-hush manner but should
openly engage, albeit sensitively. This requires enhanced
strategies to raise the levels of class-consciousness amongst
ordinary workers.

Indeed the above also requires that we undertake a serious
analysis of some of the threats facing the working class in
general and the progressive trade union movement in
particular. This incident, as well as others before it in the
recent period, should send a very clear message that there is
a sustained attack and offensive against COSATU in particular.
The SACP has also correctly warned that where our detractors
and enemies sense some divisions amongst our ranks, then they
always tend to go on the offensive. It might as well be
important that these and other related matters needs to be
discussed at the COSATU Congress next month, including frank
analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of COSATU affiliates
as well as some of the threats facing the federation as a
whole. This discussion must not take the form of a lamentation
or rhetoric, but must aim at concretely coming up with a
programme to defend and strengthen COSATU, within the context
of deepening the unity of our Alliance. Such a discussion at
COSATU Congress must also concretely explore the possible
relationship between, Marikana, the current global capitalist
crisis, the further decline in the profitability of
capitalism, and a renewed offensive to weaken the working
class to defend declining levels of profits. For example to
what extent are the tensions in the platinum mine-belt
connected to the decreasing demand of platinum in an economic
zone like the EU which is a major consumer of platinum for
catalytic converters?

The SACP also wishes to strongly condemn the cheap politicking
by the parliamentary opposition in trying to lay the blame at
the door of government and narrowly the police, without
exploring (deliberately of course) some of the issues outlined
above that require serious exploration and engagement. Some of
the opposition parties have conveniently bought into the
notion of `inter-union rivalry` as the reasons for the
violence in a manner that is no different from that of the
apartheid regime`s attempt to try and cover its early 1990`s
deadly war against our movement and our people as "black on
black violence". It was also instructive to listen to some of
the opposition and other demagogues using the same rationale
as that of all of the past apartheid regime`s stooges that
"the NUM is the common denominator in all of the violence in
the mines"; just like the UDF/Cosatu/ANC was described by the
apartheid regime in the past as the common denominator in all
of the violence directed against these very formations by the
apartheid regime and its Bantustan tentacles.

Indeed attempts by the opposition to liken police reaction in
Marikana to that of the apartheid regime is outrageous, no
matter how unacceptable death is. The fact that government has
taken the kind of action in response to this tragedy indicates
that government is as equally concerned about these deaths. Of
course this does not and must not mean that we do not have a
responsibility as a country to constantly focus on the
transformation of the police and have serious and ongoing
reflection on police methods and crowd control measures.

Sithi kubo bonke abalahlekelwe, nilale ngenxeba, akwehlanga
lungehlanga!

==========

The Marikana Massacre reveals the depths of the fault lines in
South Africa

by Sahra Ryklief

Amandla!
August 23, 2012

http://www.amandlapublishers.co.za/special-features/markikana--lonmin-massacre/1556-the-marikana-massacre-reveals-the-depths-of-the-fault-lines-in-south-africa--by-sahra-ryklief

On Thursday 16th August, 34 striking mineworkers were shot
dead by police at LONMIN's platinum mine in Rustenberg. It is
not yet clear why the police were using live ammunition, nor
whether a warning was issued. Audio-visual depictions of the
event demonstrate a systematic attack on strikers, with dead
bodies strewn on the field while police continue with open
fire.

In no way can this action be excused as a police warning to
violent strikers to desist from attacking them. Police have
access to buckshot; teargas; tazers; the ability to cordon off
the strikers with layers of barbed wire or other more solid
re-enforcements. They have the resources and expertise to
contain and prevent violent crowds from harming others whilst
trying to defuse the situation through negotiation. They
should have knowledge of dozens of siege/negotiation
combination tactics and actions, even if I am not aware of it.

I know that these exist internationally. I have watched Korean
fishermen hurl themselves at policemen, battering them
mercilessly with every weapon at their disposal during anti-
WTO demonstrations in Hong Kong for days, without any
fatalities. I have seen line after line of fresh police troops
replace their furious and embattled comrades holding the
frontlines of worker demonstrations in various countries of
the world without even resorting to teargas. I have seen, here
in South Africa pre 1994 and post, police cordon off
uncontrollable areas and, if unable to influence or change the
situation, wait for order to be restored. What has changed?
Who do we hold responsible for this example of extreme moral
bankruptcy, when the situational restoration of 'order'
becomes more important than the lives of countless workers?

If we want to prevent this from occurring again, we have to
make sure that this black Thursday of the 16th August 2012 is
never forgotten. This means we have to acknowledge our
culpability. In apportioning blame I do not exclude myself. As
a labour educator and researcher, I have taught and written
about the pioneering role of strikes in this country in
shaping the organisations, legal protections and improved
conditions of our industrial relations system, whilst either
glossing over or excusing the coercive actions and violence
workers have direct towards each other in the name of unity
and solidarity. I will do so no longer. Worker unity has to be
based on something superior to violent coercion. Unity on that
basis cannot lead to any lasting, positive outcome. It has
shaped the way we approach strike organisation in this country
for far too long. As labour, we need to take responsibility
for change in this respect.

Which is not to say that those who study, educate, lead and
organise workers and communities have, in any meaningful way,
control over whether violence will occur or not. They do not.
As long as we have the depths of deprivation and
differentiation we have here in South Africa, violence will
shadow collective action, electoral and associational freedoms
notwithstanding.

As the working poor, mineworkers live under similar levels of
deprivation as the wild-cat strikers of the 1970s and 1980s
whose actions shaped our current labour movement and
constitutional dispensation. As the jobless youth, those who
currently are burning tires and debris and stoning buses and
taxis live under similar, appalling socio-economic conditions,
are imbued with comparable levels of anger, frustration and
helplessness to those of the 1980s and 1990s. Unless the
socio-economic conditions change, violence will remain endemic
to protest and resistance in South Africa.

By its mere prevalence, it becomes open to manipulation.
Claims by various politicians and trade unionists of a "third
force" summoning up the violence for their own advantage, have
some resonance. However, despite their resonance, these claims
of a third force should be no less acceptable to us today than
they were when the apartheid government claimed this as the
force behind the anti-apartheid and labour movements of thirty
years ago.

Firstly, because to focus on an invisible (or visible only to
some) external, third force as the main driver behind the
strikers' actions is a grievous disrespect of these workers'
own volition. Secondly, because the apportioning of blame
externally both hides stakeholder culpability and also
exonerates the responsibilities of said stakeholders to
prevent a re-occurrence in future. We do not yet know the full
extent of culpability behind the LONMIN disaster, but we
already know enough to speculate on the consequent actions
that could emerge.

The first lesson of the massacre is this - the time of
celebrating past anti-apartheid heroism is over. The irony of
having the former National Union of Mineworkers and ANC
General Secretary, Cyril Ramaphosa, as a director on the
LONMIN board just says it all. In respect of the traditional
importance of burying the dead near their ancestors and
families, his R2million offer towards their funerals will be
helpful, but not enough. Non-executive director or not,
Ramaphosa should commit himself to investigate and correct all
mis-management that led to this disaster, under conditions of
full transparency, or if he cannot, divest himself of any
further interest in the company. That's taking real
responsibility, as a shareholder representative.

This leads us to the culpability of the mine management, who
bypassed the collective bargaining processes to establish
differentiated conditions amongst its workforce, sparking the
wild-cat protests. Many, many lives have been lost in the
establishment of our industrial relations system. our system
has many flaws, not the least that it is inherently
structurally unstable due to the grave differentials between
the ceiling and floor of earnings within the country, company
and workplace. The arrogance and disrespect shown by LONMIN
management to this reality should not go unrecognised. Whoever
was responsible for this decision should resign, and issue a
statement acknowledging culpability. Furthermore, their
replacements at LONMIN management should recognise whomever
the strikers elect as their leaders. The ability to recognise
a crisis and respond accordingly is an essential requirement
of management. LONMIN failed dismally in this respect.

Then there are the police. This massacre and the total
disregard for the protection of lives, even of those who were
aggressive and armed (although the exact extend of this has to
be established), is a direct result of the modelling of the
police as an armed force rather than a service. A judicial
enquiry may reveal the actual culpability of those who made
the decision and took action, but as citizens we are entitled
to hold our elected representatives accountable for the
decisions and actions of those under their command. The
appointment of Cele, the introduction of military titles and
the blatant culture of use of force as a first resort has
taken place under the watch of the current minister of police
and his deputy. They should resign with immediate effect and
be replaced by politicians committed to a police service that
holds the protection of human life supreme.

Last, but by no means least, there are the unions. As the
largest COSATU affiliate, the NUM is "kingmaker" amongst our
unions. It influences every ANC party election, and through
this, parliamentary and cabinet positioning. Yet it is as
vulnerable on the workplace as any other union. It cannot
afford to neglect consistent and comprehensive grassroots
organisation and voice at the workplace. This is no easy task,
because it requires the union to at all-time have its primary
articulation being that which furthers the interests of its
workers, even at the cost of its king-making role.

The massacre has brought home the political reality, which
should not be too difficult for the NUM leadership to openly
face and acknowledge, that the class interests of the NUM are
easier shared with the leaders of its bitter rival at LONMIN,
AMCO, than with their allies in the ANC NEC. If they have the
courage to do this openly the will destroy the spurious
argument that NUM or COSATU officials, by virtue of earning a
decent wage (contrary to the workers whose conditions their
life's work is dedicated to improve) and perhaps even, horror
of horrors, by residing in the suburbs, are losing touch with
the rank and file.

For if this were true, how could Julius Malema, king of bling,
just fly in from London and address the striking workers to
welcome applause? Do these commentators really think those
strikers are not aware that Malema's wealth is one hundred
times greater than any union official? Populist demagogue par
excellence, Malema tells them what they want to hear, and they
welcome him because of this. As a union official or leader,
you cannot always do this. Even the leader of AMCO tried to
dissuade the strikers and failed. There are no easy solutions,
but one thing is very clear. As labour the NUM and COSATU have
to unambiguously condemn the firing and killing of striking
workers, and not exempt any power broker, whether their allies
in the ANC leadership battle; mine management or the police
from culpability in this regard.

[Sahra Ryklief is Secretary General of the International
Federation of Workers' Education Associations (IFWEA), and an
experienced South African labour activist and educator.

She holds a master's degree in political science from the
University of Liverpool, and is an adjunct professor in the
School of Management and Labour Relations at Rutgers'
University, New Jersey, USA. She is a consultant for two major
donor organizations for labour and social movements in
Southern Africa (FNV-Mondiaal and ICCO) and a media
commentator on trade union strategies.

Ryklief is the chairperson of the Ditikeni Investment Company,
an ethical investment fund committed to the long-term
sustainability of South African NGOs. She is the former
director of the Labour Research Service, and still serves as
an advisor to its' Board of Directors. She also serves as
advisor to the National Executive Committee of Sikhula Sonke,
a women-led trade union for farm workers in the Western Cape,
and is a member of the advisory board of the Institute for
Development and Labour Law of the University and Cape Town.]

==========

IndustriALL condemns wild killings at South African Lonmin
mine

IndustriALL Global Union

August 17, 2012

http://www.industriall-union.org/industriall-condemns-wild-killings-at-south-african-lonmin-mine?utm_source=Newsletters+in+english&utm_campaign=a87f0a63d4-Headlines_IndustriALL_78_23_2012&utm_medium=email

Conflict stemming from collusion between management and a
yellow union, attempting to weaken IndustriALL's affiliated
National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), escalated into tragedy
yesterday as at least 35 workers were shot dead by police at
the Marikana platinum mine.

IndustriALL joins NUM in calling for calm to return to the
Marikana mine, about 100 km north-west of Johannesburg, and
demanding a full and thorough investigation from law
enforcement agencies that leads to arrests and prosecution for
those responsible. The shootings occurred at the Wonderkop
squatter camp at the mine, after police efforts to disperse
crowds of demonstrators with teargas and water cannons failed.
It is now the responsibility of Lonmin, the UK-based mine
owner to ensure calm and safety is restored so that miners can
return to work.

The blame and the root cause of the conflict, which had
already killed 10 people, lies with the employer who conducted
an underhanded attack on the NUM and the established
bargaining structure by bypassing the proper channels and
offering a unilateral allowance to rock-drill operators.

Today, NUM General Secretary Frans Baleni and an NUM
delegation are visiting the mine together with South Africa's
Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, to give condolences
to the families of  the dead workers and to establish a
clearer understanding of how the tragedy occurred. NUM
President Senzeni Zokwana, also Vice-President of IndustriALL,
who is at the mine appealing for calm, stated "rock drillers
are always vulnerable to scam artists targeting the platinum
industry in Limpopo and the North West." Referring to the
rival union he said "these guys have taken the guise of a
union that promises them R12,500 - which NUM adamantly says is
unachievable for a rock driller."

Lonmin followed the example of fellow platinum miner Impala
Platinum, where there has also been increasing intimidation
and violence this year. At both Lonmin and Impala, NUM is
persecuted by management through a number of undermining
efforts that favour yellow unions and non-union members. A
major contributing  factor is the lack of a centralized
bargaining structure inside the Chamber of Mines for the
platinum mining industry, as exists for coal and gold mining.
South Africa is the world's largest producer of platinum.

IndustriALL Global Union sends heartfelt condolences to the
families and friends of those killed, and joins NUM in calling
workers to remain united in face of management attempts at
divide and rule. IndustriALL condemns the tactics of Lonmin's
local management which is the root cause for this tragedy.
IndustriALL also calls on the Chamber of Mines to address the
need for centralised bargaining in the platinum industry to
prevent companies from undermining union rights, closing the
space for such unilateral destructive actions for which
workers have paid with their lives.

IndustriALL and NUM demand that the families of the deceased
must be compensated as if the deceased died on duty and all
workers must be paid full salaries for the period of work
stoppage, as it was the company that could not provide them
with transport and security to work.

"NUM always stands shoulder to shoulder with trade unions
throughout the world when a worker is killed under their motto
"an injury to one is an injury to all". Condolences and
solidarity messages are being sent from all regions to NUM at
this time," stated IndustriALL Assistant General Secretary
Kemal Özkan.

[IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in 140
countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors and
is a new force in global solidarity taking up the fight for
better working conditions and trade union rights around the
world.

IndustriALL challenges the power of multinational companies
and negotiates with them on a global level. IndustriALL fights
for another model of globalization and a new economic and
social model that puts people first, based on democracy and
social justice.]

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