Sharp, sharp!
This koppie -- the rock outcropping -- at Lonmin's Marikana operation in the North West Province is helping define the country's modern history. The "Man with the Green Blanket" stood here and spoke against one of the largest platinum companies in South Africa and the world, against the National Union of Mineworkers, against Cyril Ramaphosa.
Until this week, I had covered mining without making the pilgrimage to this site. It's surreal standing there, hearing an account of where the police stood, where the bullets rained hell and where the miners fell. 34 men died that day in August 2012 -- another 10 earlier that week -- and protests to this day are not complete without shirts proclaiming the memory of Marikana.
A researcher from Wits presenting at the South African Human Rights Commission last week announced that another Marikana is imminent in the next decade if South Africa's mining industry doesn't change its standard operating procedures soon. He didn't sound crazy.
Cheers,
Mark
This koppie -- the rock outcropping -- at Lonmin's Marikana operation in the North West Province is helping define the country's modern history. The "Man with the Green Blanket" stood here and spoke against one of the largest platinum companies in South Africa and the world, against the National Union of Mineworkers, against Cyril Ramaphosa.
Until this week, I had covered mining without making the pilgrimage to this site. It's surreal standing there, hearing an account of where the police stood, where the bullets rained hell and where the miners fell. 34 men died that day in August 2012 -- another 10 earlier that week -- and protests to this day are not complete without shirts proclaiming the memory of Marikana.
A researcher from Wits presenting at the South African Human Rights Commission last week announced that another Marikana is imminent in the next decade if South Africa's mining industry doesn't change its standard operating procedures soon. He didn't sound crazy.
Cheers,
Mark
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