On this day in 2012, the Marikana Massacre took place when South African police fired on striking workers, killing 34 and injuring 76 in the most lethal use of force by the state in half a century.

The shootings have been compared to the infamous Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, when police fired on a crowd of anti-Pass Law protesters, killing 69 people, including 10 children. The Marikana Massacre took place on the 25-year anniversary of a nationwide strike by over 300,000 South African workers.

On August 10th, miners had initiated a wildcat strike at a site owned by Lonmin in the Marikana area, close to Rustenburg, South Africa. Although ten people (mostly workers) had been killed before August 16th, it was on that day that an elite force from the South African Police Service fired into a crowd of strikers with rifles, killing 34 and injuring 76.

After surveying the aftermath of the violence, photojournalist Greg Marinovich concluded that "[it is clear] that heavily armed police hunted down and killed the miners in cold blood."

Following the massacre, a massive wave of strikes occurred across the South African mining sector - in early October, analysts estimated that approximately 75,000 miners were on strike from various gold and platinum mines and companies across South Africa, most of them doing so illegally.

A year after the Marikana Massacre, author Benjamin Fogel wrote "Perhaps the most important lesson of Marikana is that the state can gun down dozens of black workers with little or no backlash from 'civil society', the judicial system or from within the institutions that supposedly form the bedrock of democracy."

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  • GorbinOutOverHere [comrade/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Chef offered me a flat $2 raise to be a cook, so I'd be making $16.42. I kinda want >$18, and was going to ask for $18.50 but like idk. My main argument was just going to be about how our raises are capped at less than the rate of inflation and giving me a bigger wage now will ensure I want to stick around despite that, specifically citing how the director told me that the only way to get a decent wage increase is to change jobs.

    But idk if they'll care about that, or enough to pay me another $2/hr extra.

    My friend had 15 years experience and was only making $15, asked them for 19-20 and was told "good luck" soooo idk

    Thoughts

    I think I still want to do the job even at 16.42 because that's still like another 80 dollars a week before tax and I need money :c