Skewed editorial on Marikana Massacre
I refer to your leading article on the thirteenth anniversary of the Marikana Massacre ('Ramaphosa must face Marikana widows', The Star, August 19).
No sane person would deny that the police reaction on that day was disproportionately lethal, and that some form of compensation should have been made by the platinum mining industry. What has to be disputed is how the editorial in question has been framed.
In recent years, there has been a tendency among journalists to whitewash the events that led to the massacre.
Those of us who read about this tragedy thirteen years ago, reported by some respected journalists and editors, will recall that the police were provoked, and that the miners were not innocent protesters. Visuals that were published then showed the miners carrying crude weapons that could inflict death.
There were several people, including a police officer or two, killed in the days preceding the massacre. There were rituals performed on the koppie, probably some form of witchcraft to make the miners invulnerable in the event of a confrontation.
None of this is even hinted at in the editorial, which portrays the miners as hapless victims. Even the Farlam Commission was wary of finding anyone guilty.
Those not familiar with the events of August 16, 2012, would not have been served well by the skewed version in The Star's editorial. They would be better served by Wikipedia, even though academia may thumb its nose at this online 'encyclopedia'.
Harry Sewlall
Parkmore
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
19 minutes ago
- The Citizen
'Africa not seeking aid, it's seeking partners' Ramaphosa says
Ramaphosa said South Africa is making progress in enabling its economy to participate in the rapidly changing global environment. President Cyril Ramaphosa says the African continent is not seeking aid, but rather partners. Ramaphosa made the remarks during the plenary session two on the economy at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit in Yokohama on Wednesday. The president arrived in Japan this week to lead South Africa's high-level delegation participation in the summit. 'Critical time' Attendees at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) included Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, William Ruto of Kenya and UN head António Guterres. Ramaphosa said the gathering comes at a critical time, where global economic uncertainty, the reshaping of trade and new industrial revolutions demand 'bold action and strategic collaboration.' ALSO READ: Ramaphosa visits China's Shenzhen to draw inspiration for technology and innovation 'Africa must not merely react to these forces. We must help to shape them.' Changing global environment Ramaphosa said South Africa is making progress in enabling its economy to participate in the rapidly changing global environment. 'We have stabilised our energy supply and are modernising our infrastructure. We are opening our ports and rail to private sector investment. We are rolling out a reindustrialisation agenda focused on localisation, green energy and regional integration. 'We are incentivising electric vehicles and battery production, and supporting green hydrogen value chains through infrastructure and skills investment,' Ramaphosa said. Africa is not seeking aid. It is seeking partners. Partners that understand value co-creation, sustainable development and mutual industrialisation.#TICAD9 — Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 21, 2025 Partnerships Ramaphosa added that recent tariff actions by the United States on African goods have highlighted the need to diversify export markets. 'South Africa is a leading exporter of agricultural produce and high-quality industrial products such as automobiles and components. We call on our Japanese counterparts to support tariff cooperation to ease market access for African goods,' Ramaphosa said. 'We seek partnerships in infrastructure, energy and digital development through blended finance. We also seek partnerships in financing skills development, youth innovation and small business scaling. 'Africa is not seeking aid. It is seeking partners. Partners that understand value co-creation, sustainable development and mutual industrialisation,' the president said. China With the summit, Japan hopes to counter China by offering itself as an alternative as the African continent reels from a debt crisis exacerbated by US aid cuts, conflicts and climate change. China has invested heavily in Africa over the past decade, with its companies signing deals worth hundreds of billions of Dollars to finance shipping ports, railways, roads and other projects under Beijing's Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative. NOW READ: National Dialogue: Ramaphosa urges citizens to embrace differing views
TimesLIVE
an hour ago
- TimesLIVE
National dialogue: How much time does SA have before frustration boils over?
The launch of the national dialogue has reignited debate about whether the process can genuinely help fix the country's problems or it is just another stage to advance elite interests. Political analyst and Public Affairs Research Institute executive director Dr Sithembile Mbete says dialogue has been a recurring theme in South Africa's democratic journey. 'It comes from this idea that we are so fractured as a nation across political, racial and class lines and that we somehow need to talk to each other to find a solution,' she explains. She likens the initiative to 'post-conflict negotiations' but warns that dialogue without a clear end goal risks becoming hollow. 'We should always ask: what is the outcome supposed to be?' Arena Holdings editor-at-large S'thembiso Msomi agrees, saying South Africans have long felt that 'what we have is not enough'. 'Clearly there's general unhappiness about where South Africa is going,' he says. Listen to the conversation: The dialogue has already been rocked by high-profile withdrawals from key organisations and legacy foundations. Ramaphosa, however, insisted the process would continue with or without them. Mbete says the public fallout between elite actors should alarm ordinary citizens. 'We often talk about South African problems as if they're problems of ordinary people or voters. Actually, we've got an elite problem. Some of the most important people in this country could not get themselves together to resolve their disagreements,' she says. She questions whether the disputes dominating headlines have any connection to citizens' everyday struggles: 'It's not clear to me that the things being fought over at an elite level have anything to do with joblessness, the education system or service delivery.' Msomi suggests the dialogue may be Ramaphosa's attempt to revive a failed promise. 'One of the president's big issues after the Covid crisis was to deliver a social compact. He kept promising it in 2021 but it fizzled out. I sometimes wonder if he now looks at this process and thinks: here is my opportunity to deliver something since I was unable to deliver the social compact.' Msomi still sees value in the initiative if it is genuinely broad-based: 'It's not really a bad idea to have a national dialogue that is not driven by political parties, but that involves them.' Pressed on how much time South Africa has before citizens lose patience, Msomi is cautious but hopeful: 'I hope that we do achieve something out of it, where we are we cannot sustain this [status quo].'
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Skewed editorial on Marikana Massacre
I refer to your leading article on the thirteenth anniversary of the Marikana Massacre ('Ramaphosa must face Marikana widows', The Star, August 19). No sane person would deny that the police reaction on that day was disproportionately lethal, and that some form of compensation should have been made by the platinum mining industry. What has to be disputed is how the editorial in question has been framed. In recent years, there has been a tendency among journalists to whitewash the events that led to the massacre. Those of us who read about this tragedy thirteen years ago, reported by some respected journalists and editors, will recall that the police were provoked, and that the miners were not innocent protesters. Visuals that were published then showed the miners carrying crude weapons that could inflict death. There were several people, including a police officer or two, killed in the days preceding the massacre. There were rituals performed on the koppie, probably some form of witchcraft to make the miners invulnerable in the event of a confrontation. None of this is even hinted at in the editorial, which portrays the miners as hapless victims. Even the Farlam Commission was wary of finding anyone guilty. Those not familiar with the events of August 16, 2012, would not have been served well by the skewed version in The Star's editorial. They would be better served by Wikipedia, even though academia may thumb its nose at this online 'encyclopedia'. Harry Sewlall Parkmore
