மரிக்கான பிணங்களைத் தாண்டி இலங்கை சென்ற நவி பிள்ளையும் செல்வம் அடைக்கலநாதனின் காத்திருப்பும்

Workers commemorate Marikana massacre

A year after police killed 34 miners in South Africa workers gather to remember their fallen comrades.

They came in their thousands to the vacant plot of land between the rocks and shacks. Mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, and wives descended to the outskirts of Marikana to pay their respects to the 34 miners killed by police on August 16, 2012, in the most of brutal of police operations in South Africa’s near history.

Altogether some 44 people were killed in a spate of inter-union violence and police brutality over six days of tensions in this mining town in the north west province in South Africa. The killings shocked the country, brought back memories of apartheid-type brutality against the black population, and was a chilling reminder that so little in South Africa has changed for the majority. Marikana shifted the political playing field, ushering in a quest for new representation over a tired liberation movement losing touch with its people. It also prompted concerns over the rising discontentment of the country’s working class, fast losing patience with government excuses.

But while the commemoration was devastating, the mood in Marikana was far from sombre. Workers, opting to take the day off work, sat in the dry winter’s sun for close on the entire day, chanting, praying, singing and even dancing collectively in remembrance of their colleagues. They were joined by workers from the surrounding platinum mines who travelled to pay homage to the fallen workers, they identified with the workers of Marikana and their persistence to gain a better standard of life.

For photos…

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2013/08/2013816162416953762.html

Marikana lies on South Africa’s platinum belt, where the world’s richest deposits of the metal are located. Together with Russia, South Africa produces 90% of the world’s platinum demand. The people of Marikana know the land is mineral rich, and last year they demanded a taste of that wealth.

In August 2012 thousands of workers at a Marikana mine owned by Lonmin, a London-based firm, went on a wildcat strike, demanding better wages and improved living conditions.

34-year-old Mgcineni Noki was among them. “All we want is more money,” he told CNN at the time. “As you can see, we are not fighting, we are just sitting here, waiting for the employer to address our demands so we can go back to work.”

But Noki never made it back to work. He and 33 others were gunned down by police in the bloodiest labor dispute in South Africa since the end of apartheid.Police say they acted in self-defense against a mob of protesting miners armed with clubs and machetes.

A commission of inquiry was set up to probe the incident, but a year later the inquiry is incomplete and marred by delays. Amnesty International has criticized the South African government for failing to hold those responsible for the massacre responsible.

What’s changed since
Marikana?

Tension, disbelief cloud mine dispute

South Africa’s Zuma weaker but unrattled Noel Kututwa, the group’s deputy program director for Africa, said: “The long-term consequences for the respect and protection of human rights in South Africa will be severe should the South African authorities fail in taking all necessary steps to achieve accountability”.

CNN tracked down Noki’s family on South Africa’s Eastern Cape, where most of the dead miners hailed from. The family says they have no choice but to wait and hope that justice will be served — but in the meantime, they’re preoccupied just trying to survive.

Noki’s sister, Nolufefe, said Noki’s five children, wife, siblings, nephew and niece all depended on his pay. He sent $200 home every month to ensure they didn’t go to bed hungry.

“He was responsible for everything in this household. First our parents died, then our eldest brother,” Nolufefe said. “He was our last hope”. Now they survive on an $80 grant she gets from the government for taking care of her deceased brother’s daughter.

Labor unions say the average South African mine worker supports at least eight dependents. Last year many were given hefty pay hikes after the series of strikes in the platinum belt, but as production costs rose, mass retrenchments have followed and poverty is on the rise.

Back in Marikana the community is finding it hard to cope with the loss of jobs and loss of life.

“We have seen a series of suicides,” said Chris Molebatsi, a field researcher with the Bench Marks Foundation, a non-profit group that monitors corporate social responsibility in South Africa’s mining sector. At least 10 people who witnessed last year’s massacre have taken their own lives since then, according to the group. Two of them were policemen who were on duty that day.

Examining the
Marikana massacre

Gold sector talks tough in South Africa

‘
Marikana massacre’ inquiry begins Molebatsi said the appalling living conditions of mining communities in South Africa have been a source of despair for years — and he believes nothing has changed as a result of the tragedy in Marikana.

Lonmin has announced several initiatives aimed at improving its relationship not only with workers but with the communities where they mine. New CEO Ben Magara said the firm has made land available for housing and will build infrastructure and a recreation center with a library. The people of Marikana say they have heard promises like these before.

But their anger is not just aimed at the mining company; the resentment of the government is palpable here. Million of dollars in royalty fees paid by the industry into a government administered banking account have allegedly vanished, and three independent probes have been launched to trace the cash that was meant to improve the lives of mining communities.

Meanwhile, violence continues to plague South Africa’s platinum belt. Another 20 people were killed following last year’s massacre, according to labor unions, and experts say the conditions that led to the tragedy still haven’t been addressed.

“South Africa changed politically in 1994, but not economically,” Moeletsi Mbeki, an economic analyst, told CNN. “The relationships of exploitation that are 350 years old have not changed.”

“We are more likely to have Marikana’s more often,” he continued. “If you look at the negotiations in the gold mining sector now, they’re demanding 100% (pay rises) and so on. If they don’t get what they want they will go on strike. The state depends on mining revenue, so it will try to force them back to work, and that is where you will see more violence.”

This is a sad and disturbing scenario for a country whose economy was built on and still revolves around the mining sector.
– CNN

For source & video…

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/15/world/africa/mabuse-marikana-noki

தயான் யயதிலகா  சொத்தை திண்டு பத்ம நாபாவின் தலையில் கக்கா பண்ணி தமிழரின் தலையில் குண்டை போட்ட மாதிரி. தயானைபோல ஆக்களுடன் கூட்டுச் சேர்ந்து சோசலிசப் புரட்ச்சி செய்வம் வாங்கடோ ….. வாங்க……..  

////////விக்கினேஸ் வரன் நின்று பிடிக்க மாட்டார். அவர் நிச்சயமாக சிறிது காலத்தில் அரசியலில் இருந்து சென்று விடுவார்.
எனக்கு அதிகப் படி யான வாக்கு கிடைக்கப் பண் ணுங்கோ என்று. ஆகவே அவ ரது நிலைப்பாடு என்னவென்றால் இப்படியாக வாக்கு தனக் குக் கிடைத்தால் விக்கினேஸ் வரன் ஒதுங்கும் பட்சத்தில் முதலமைச்சர் பதவியைத் தனக்குத் தரவேண்டும் என்று மற்றவர்கள் மூலமாக அடிபட்டு எடுக்கலாம் என்று ஒரு இடத்தில் சொல்லி யிருக்கின்றார்.===கரிகாலசோழன்
/////Reply
Please let the name out is it Suresh , I believe he is working on that through Saritham . 

நான்காவது, மாகாணசபையை வென்றெடுத்த பின்னர் தமிழ்மக்களின் அபிலாஷைகளைத் தீர்ப்பதற்கு விக்னேஸ்வரன் என்ன வேலைத்திட்டங்களை முன்னெடுக்கப்போகின்றார் என்பதை தேர்தலுக்கு முன்னரே அவர் தெளிவாக முன்வைக்கவேண்டும். கூட்டமைப்புத் தலைமையின் கொள்கையும், வேலைத்திட்டமுமே என்னுடையதாக இருக்கும் எனக் கூறிவிட்டு அவர் வாழாவிருக்க முடியாது. ஏனெனில் கூட்டமைப்பிற்கென ஒருகொள்கைத் திட்டமும் கிடையாது, ஒரு வேலைத்திட்டமும் கிடையாது. எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் இந்தியாவின் வாயைப் பார்த்துக்கொண்டிருப்பது மட்டுமே அதன் செயற்பாடு.