NATIONAL NEWS - “We have been fighting for money, but even today, we have not been paid what we deserve. We continue to be killed by the government that we voted for.”
These were the words of an emotional Marikana miner that witnessed the brutal shooting of his 34 colleagues exactly a decade ago.
He spoke to The Citizen on the sidelines of the 10th anniversary of the Marikana massacre on Tuesday as civil society, labour groups and the families of the slain and injured workers gathered to commemorate the day.
Lulama Mfuleni said no one understands the pain and suffering of those who lost their loved ones at the time of the tragedy.
Their pain was further exacerbated by the government’s failure to honour their memory.
“No one doesn’t know what happened here in 2012 but there’s not even a stone written on this mountain to honour the ones who died,” said Mfuleni.
“Women lost their husbands, children lost their fathers and some of them have been subjected to begging from neighbours as they have nothing because the breadwinners were brutally killed.”
Mfuleni said he agrees with those who say nothing has changed since the massacre.
“I have not seen any change at all and this is because we have no government in the country, we only have government by name.”
He said people in the area are still living in shacks and are surrounded by poverty.
“They don’t even have a toilet. People continue to suffer. The lives of those who lost their lives on that day have not been dignified.”
