Marikana, South Africa (CNN) -- The headlines Friday in South Africa spoke of a bloodbath, of war.
The morning after carnage
at a platinum mine, South Africans grappled with shock, memories of an
ugly era resurrected in their minds. The word apartheid surfaced again
as people debated the need for such police force.
The police, meanwhile,
explained themselves at a news conference, giving reporters the grim
toll: 34 mine workers killed, 78 others wounded, 259 arrested on various
charges, including malicious damage to property, armed robbery, illegal
gathering and possession of weapons. That according to Police
Commissioner Riah Phiyega.
She said police "were forced to utilize maximum force to defend themselves."
South African President
Jacob Zuma cut short a trip to Mozambique to visit the scene of the
shootings Friday afternoon. He announced the government will open an
inquiry of the incident.
He reminded South Africans that they must come together to overcome national challenges as they had done before.
"This is not a day to
apportion blame," Zuma said. "It is a day for us to mourn together as a
nation. It is also a day to start healing."
Mourn, yes, but also a time to think about what had been done, some cried.
South African miners killed during strike
Striking miners fired on in South Africa
Deadly South African mine clashes
Bitter mining feud erupts in violence
South Africa mine killings
"African lives cheap as ever," read a headline in the Sowetan newspaper.
It editorialized that
South Africa's economic woes do require a war. "But a different kind of
war -- a war of ideas. Not a war that dispenses with human life in as
cheaply a manner as we have seen in Marikana."
The tragedy began
unfolding a week ago when miners went on strike demanding pay hikes at
the mine near Rustenburg, about two hours northwest of Johannesburg.
They were rock drillers
who worked at the dangerous depths of the mine, their bodies vibrating
for the duration of their eight-hour shift.
"When there is a rock
fall, it is generally the drillers who are the victims," wrote
journalist Greg Marinovich in the Daily Maverick newspaper. "It is the
most dangerous job in the business."
The miners earned between $300 and $500 a month and wanted that raised to $1,500.
It came as no surprise
that their multi-national employer, Lonmin, said no to the whopping
increase. The world's third largest producer of platinum said the strike
was illegal.
The larger problem, however, went beyond a wage dispute.
It had to do with a
vicious rivalry between two unions -- the dominant and established
National Union of Mineworkers and the splinter Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union which has been encroaching on the
former's role.
The National Union of
Mineworkers is a close ally of the country's ruling African National
Congress. The miners, according to several South African media outlets,
feel they are not adequately represented by the battling unions. They
say politics gets in the way and that each union vies for miners'
support and yet they don't always seek their best interests.
In January, at least
three people were killed during a strike at the world's second-largest
platinum mine, Impala Platinum. The violence there, too, was also blamed
on union rivalry.
The two implicated unions, accused of trying to outdo each other in negotiating wages, denied instigating the clashes.
Tensions at Marikana had mounted throughout the week.
The striking miners
carried traditional panga machetes and gathered around a small hill
Thursday. Police carried anti-riot equipment and encircled the
protesting workers.
By then, at least 10
other people were dead from incidents that occurred in the days before.
Among them were two police officers who were hacked to death.
Journalists who were at Marikana said police seemed fed up with the miners. They were determined to resolve the issue.
"Yesterday the police
were clear that today we are going to disarm them and remove them from
the hill because the gathering is illegal," said Xolile Mngambi, a
reporter for CNN affiliate ETV.
By Thursday afternoon, another round of negotiations between the striking miners, the unions and Lonmin failed.
The miners chanted war songs, witnesses said.
A heavily armed police Tactical Response Team moved in to disperse the miners.
What happened next is unclear.
To hear Phiyega, the
police commissioner, describe it, the police weighed all their options
and made a decision to fence in the miners with barbed wire -- to
compartmentalize them into more manageable groups. She defended police
actions, saying it was a desperate last measure against protesters who
were dangerous.
"The armed protesters
moved toward the police," she said. "They were driven back with tear gas
and rubber bullets. But when they fired, police used maximum force."
But journalists at the scene could not say whether the protesters fired first.
"We cannot say to you the police were provoked," Mngambi said.
Then, the police unleashed a barrage of gunfire. One witness said it went on for three minutes.
Men dropped to the ground. Some lay motionless; others were still moving. Blood spilled onto the parched earth.
The images spread fast
on the news, on the Internet. Marikana was one of the bloodiest
incidents since the end of apartheid in 1994.
South Africans were
taken back to that time of mandated racial separation and horrific
incidents of police brutality against black people. Some likened
Marikana to Sharpeville, where in 1960, police fired on a crowd of black
demonstrators, killing 69 people.
There was clear
evidence, the South African Institute for Race Relations said, that
policemen randomly shot into the crowd with rifles and handguns.
"There is also evidence
of their continuing to shoot after a number of bodies can be seen
dropping and others turning to run. This is reminiscent of the
Sharpeville massacre in 1960.
"In our view," the
institute said, "what happened at Lonmin is completely unacceptable. We
hold no brief for the use of violence in labor or any other disputes.
But even if the police were provoked or shot at during yesterday's
incident, or were angry at the killing of two police officers in the
days before, no disciplined and properly trained policeman would shoot
into a crowd. Yesterday's incident was a disaster waiting to happen."
Marikana, said some, exposed deep-rooted problems that have been bubbling in South Africa.
"I think this us a sign
of underlying structural issues which you have seen in South Africa for a
long time," said Mark Rosenberg, an Africa analyst with the risk
research firm Eurasia Group.
"There has been an
increase in violent protests both by miners and also by citizens living
in townships who are upset with the level and pace of service delivery,"
he said.
People are no longer willing to sit and wait around for the African National Congress to deliver.
"They are becoming more and more impatient and they're becoming more and more violent as a result," Rosenberg said.
The company's financial
officer, Simon Scott, expressed condolences to the family and friends of
the workers and police officers who died this week. He said the company
would assist with funerals and grief counseling.
Scott said Lonmin has
worked for years to achieve good labor relations and said the "illegal
strike we've seen is so disappointing and damaging."
"If the industry
continues to be damaged by illegal actions it is not just the economy
which suffers, but all our employees, their families and dependents,"
Scott said about South Africa's vital mining sector. "We need our
employees to come back to work and we need to get mining again."
But Friday at Marikana, all was quiet. The Lonmin mine remained shut.
On the dry, dusty
surrounding streets, a heavy police presence remained. And women
searched desperately for husbands, fathers and brothers who did not come
home.
A 9-year-old boy said he was convinced he saw his father shot on television.
One of the miners, who
did not want to be identified, told CNN that none of the mine workers
fired at police. But regardless of whether their actions were legal or
illegal, he said, none of this should have happened.
"They should not have died," he said. "All they want is a wage increase."
He said he thought South Africa was a democracy, a nation of free people. But it didn't feel that way this week at Marikana.
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