By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A somber gathering of about 5,000 people marked the 10th anniversary of what has become known as the Marikana massacre, when police opened fire on striking miners.
34 protesting Lonmin mineworkers were shot dead, live on TV. Ten people other people were killed in the week before the massacre.
Community members and miners danced and sang while holding sticks. Some wore Association of Miners and Construction Union (AMCU) T-shirts and overalls and others had blankets.
Families of the miners who died also attended the event, along with survivors, UDM leader Bantu Holomisa, One South Africa Movement leader Mmusi Maimane and advocate Dali Mpofu, SC, among others.
People sat on camping chairs and had cooler boxes of alcoholic drinks with them. Children ran around, including some in pyjamas.
A small contingent of police monitored the gathering.
Speaking on behalf of the widows of the murdered Lonmin mineworkers, Nosihle Ngoyi slammed the State for failing to hold accountable those responsible for the massacre. “We want all those implicated in the murders to be prosecuted. We want to see them going to jail,” she said.
The widows of slain mineworkers also repeated calls for 16 August to be declared a national holiday.
One of the survivors of the Marikana Massacre, Mzoxolo Magidiwane, has pleaded with thousands of people gathered in Wonderkop – including the widows of slain mineworkers- not to lose hope in their pursuit of justice.
He has explained that while it may take some time, in the end the people who “spilled” blood in Marikana will be prosecuted.
Magidiwane, who is also facing prosecution over the violence that took place in the days before 16 August 2012, said the truth will unburden them.
He has explained that because of the pain caused, he will not forgive President Cyril Ramaphosa or former president Jacob Zuma- who was in charge of government when the mineworkers were shot by the police 10 years ago.
“To this day, I can feel the bullet wounds pulling at me. The pain is unbearable,” explained Magidiwane.
The government has paid more than 170 million rands in compensation to 280 claimants, mainly the families of the slain mineworkers and those injured that day or who were wrongfully arrested, it said in a statement earlier this month.
There are still 24 claims to be addressed by the end of August, according to the government.
The 10th anniversary of the killings is also being commemorated in “Marikana the Musical”, being performed in Pretoria, in which people dressed as miners and police re-enact the tragedy as sombre music plays in the background.
To the audience and actors alike, the violence is incomprehensible. Lead actor Mavuso Magabane said: “Every night before I come on stage I watch the videos, I relive the moment so that when I come on this stage I’m in a trance.”