Action demanded in the wake of SA police shootings: The Church of England Newspaper, September 9, 2012 p 6 September 10, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: Johannes Seoka, labour unrest, Lonmin Platinium, South Africa, Thabo Makgoba
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The President of the South African Council of Churches, the Anglican Bishop of Pretoria Jo Seoka has published an open letter calling upon President Jacob Zuma to investigate the 16 August 2012 police killing of 34 striking miners.
“The coming investigation into the shootings must commence promptly and consist of an impartial commission that will be able to establish responsibilities for the incident at all levels within the police force and government, and the top management of Lonmin,” Bishop Seoka said.
Last month police fired into a crowd of 3000 miners gathered on a hillside close to the Lonmin Platinum mine near Rustenburg after miners attacked police lines.
The mines have been the scene of labour tensions between two rival unions: the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union for the right to represent the mine’s 28,000 employees. In early August ten people, including two policemen, were killed in skirmishes between the unions who are also calling for a £600 a month wage increase from the British owned company.
Lonmin had a poor reputation the bishop said. “Communities in the area say that mines’ corporate social responsibility programmes are ‘lies’ as they make a lot of promises when they enter a community but often do not deliver,’ Bishop Seoka said, adding “the majority of the projects are done to satisfy their public image and rarely do they consult with workers to find out what they actually need.”
However, he announced that in his talks with management, “we are pleased to announce that Lonmin have finally agreed to meet with representatives of the strikers,” Bishop Seoka reported, adding that Lonmin had backed away from its threat to sack the striking workers.
At the first of four funerals held for the dead on 23 Aug, Bishop Seoka told the congregation the shootings brought back memories of the apartheid struggle. “We are shocked as a nation about what happened. None of us ever thought it would happen again.”
The Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba warned political leaders not to exploit the tragedy for their own purposes telling the congregation “These are God’s people, we need to respect the dignity and sanctity of their lives.”
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Archbishop “appalled” by police massacre in South Africa: The Church of England Newspaper, August 26, 2012 p 6. August 29, 2012
Posted by geoconger in Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Church of England Newspaper.Tags: labour unrest, Lonmin Platinium, Riah Phiyega, South Africa, Thabo Makgoba
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The Archbishop of Cape Town has called for a “strong, but measured and proportionate” response from the South African government after police opened fire on striking miners killing 34.
Speaking to the press on August 17, National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega said the police were compelled to use deadly force against striking miners at the Lonmin Platinium mine, located 62 miles northwest of Johannesburg, after 3000 miners gathered on a hillside overlooking Marikana to call for a pay rise of £600 a month.
Police sought to surround the striking miners and the melee began after shots were fired at the police and the miners charged police ranks wielding machetes.
Molaole Montsho of the Sapa news agency said he saw police use water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades to break up the protest. “And then in the commotion – we were about 800m [2,600ft] from the scene – we heard gunshots that lasted for about two minutes,” he wrote.
Commissioner Phiyega reported that 34 miners were killed, approximately 78 were injured and 259 taken into police custody.
The mine workers union, a political ally of President Jacob Zuma’s African National Congress, has called for a government investigation into the shooting – the deadliest police clash since the end of the apartheid era. Some activists have likened the shooting to the 1960 Sharpesville massacre, where police opened fire on demonstrators killing 69 – an event credited with radicalizing the anti-apartheid movement.
In a statement released on 17 August, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town said he was “stunned and appalled” by the shootings.
“Whatever the merits of the various disputes – whether between employees and employers, between unions, between workers and union leaders, between miners and police – whatever the legality of the strikes or the responses to them, this death toll is unacceptable,” the archbishop said, as “even one death is one too many.”
The archbishop called upon the Ministers of Justice, and of Mining and Mineral Resources to give “strong, but measured and proportionate, interventions to end this warpath and stop the killings.”
“We must also make resoundingly clear that common sense must prevail, and that sincere, mature, negotiation must always be the route to solving our differences. Violence is never the answer,” Archbishop Makgoba said.
First printed in The Church of England Newspaper.
Conger 