SIKHALA SONKE: The Women of Marikana invite you to bear witness to their lives in Marikana in August 2014
Re: site inspection and speak out by the women of Marikana, 12 August 2014
| WHAT? A site inspection of Wonderkop, Marikana followed by a brief speak-out in which the women of Marikana and widows will testify to their ongoing pain and experience of injustice. They will talk about what they want to change in their lives.WHO? Ministers and Parliamentarians, the Office of the Premier in the North-West province, representatives of Chapter Nine bodies, prominent civil society leaders and cultural workers.
WHEN? Tuesday 12 August at 11am outside the main entrance to the Wonderkop Stadium. |
Nearly two years has passed since the massacre of striking mineworkers in Marikana on 16 August 2012. Media and public attention has since been focused on the Farlam Commission and, more recently, on the five-month plus strike action on the Platinum belt. Eyes have long been turned away from day-to-day life in Marikana, and the distant rural villages and towns from which some of the mineworkers, killed in the massacre, originate and where their surviving families remain.
As we approach the two year anniversary of the Marikana massacre, it is an appropriate time to ask:
– Are the Lonmin workers and community members living in conditions any better than two years ago? What has Lonmin done to improve lives? What has the local municipality done?
– What justice has there been for the widows of Marikana and the families of the mineworkers that were killed? Has there been any compensation for their grievous losses? How are these families being supported by Lonmin and government?
– Do workers and the community feel that justice has been served in the past two years?
The women of Marikana – organised as Sikhala Sonke – invite you to bear witness to their living conditions, their continued suffering and their acute feeling that justice for workers, for widows, for the community as a whole has not been served.
Please RSVP or send your queries to sikhalasonkejustice@gmail.com. You may also phone ThumekaMagwangqana on 084 714 0111.
We look forward to meet you on the 12th August in Marikana,
Sikhala Sonke
SIKHALA SONKE: The Women of Marikana
Site Inspection and Speak Out, 12 August 2014
Programme
10:30am Gather at tent erected close to the Wonderkop Stadium, Nkaneng, Marikana
11:00am Welcome, why we are here and outline of programme for the day (Sikhala Sonke)
Bishop Jo Seoka – opening words and prayer
11:15am Depart for site inspection (Sikhala Sonke)
12:15pm Conclude site inspection at assembly point
Testimonies from women and widows of Marikana
Remembering Paulina Masuhlo (Sikhala Sonke and family of Paulina Masuhlo)
Reading of Sikhala Sonke letters to government
1:00pm Responses from invited guests and other organisations gathered in solidarity
Reading messages of solidarity
1:50pm Closing words and prayer – Bishop Paul Verryn
Refreshments and departure
(Photo Credit: Sikhala Sonke – Mama Marikana)