The Marikana Massacre: 10 Years of Waiting for Justice – Will the Truth Ever Surface?
It’s been nearly a decade since the Marikana massacre, yet the question of accountability still hangs in the air.

The tragedy, which unfolded in August 2012, saw 34 mine workers gunned down by police during a strike for better wages.

Today, the battle for justice is far from over.

As the case moves forward in the high court in Johannesburg, survivors and families of the victims are still grappling with the pain of loss and the lack of answers.

The Heart of the Dispute: A Call for Accountability
The central issue of the civil case against former president Cyril Ramaphosa and others is the alleged incitement to violence by those in power.

The case argues that the actions of the then National Police Commissioner, Riya Payaja, in ordering police officers to confront striking workers directly led to the bloodshed.

The lawyer representing the miners, Dalian Poffo, claims that President Ramaphosa failed to uphold promises made to the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to apologize for the massacre.

The workers demand justice, but not just a symbolic apology.

They want financial restitution for the lives lost, for the injuries suffered, and for the unfulfilled promises made by those in power.

The victims of this massacre were unarmed workers, protesting for better pay, yet they were met with the full force of the police.

A Legal Battle Ten Years in the Making
The legal proceedings have been long and drawn out.

The mine workers have filed a civil lawsuit against Ramaphosa, his former company, and the South African government, demanding over a billion rand in damages.

Their argument is that the tragic events were foreseeable and that the police were sent in with intent to criminalize the workers’ actions as violent threats, despite them being part of a legitimate labor strike.

At the heart of the case are email communications from the days before the massacre.

These emails, allegedly sent by Ramaphosa, referred to the labor strike as “criminal activity,” a phrase that has now become synonymous with the Marikana massacre.

The police, it is argued, were sent in with full knowledge that their actions would escalate the situation.

The Forgotten Victims and the Survivor’s Story
The miners have faced a brutal ten-year fight for recognition, compensation, and justice.

One of the survivors, Muzokolomaki Tiwana, who was shot nine times on that fateful day, poignantly recalls his experience.

Despite the physical and emotional scars, he emphasizes the unresolved questions and the pain of not having been compensated for the horrors he endured.

Tiwana’s wounds, which required seven bullets to be surgically removed, are a stark reminder of the violence that day.

But the pain runs deeper than just physical injury.

For Tiwana and many of the survivors, the hardest part is the lack of closure.

“We were fighting for a better life, for a fair wage,” he says, “but we got shot instead.”
The compensation that the miners were promised—an agreement that would have paid workers a minimum wage of 12,500 rand—was met, but it doesn’t cover the costs of the lives lost, the emotional scars, or the trauma of that day.

The Tension in Marikana: A President’s Failure to Return

A major point of contention has been President Ramaphosa’s refusal to visit Marikana since the massacre.

While he has made promises over the years, the tense atmosphere in Marikana means he has yet to return.

This refusal has only added to the anger of the families and the surviving miners who feel abandoned by their president.

The workers’ demand for an apology is not just about words; it’s about an acknowledgment of the suffering they have endured, and a commitment to ensuring that no such tragedy will ever be repeated.

Yet, despite years of litigation and promises, there has been no formal apology or real action taken from the highest levels of government.

The Argument in Court: Can the President Be Held Liable?
As the case unfolds, Ramaphosa’s legal team argues that he should not be held liable.

They claim that, at the time of the massacre, he was merely a non-executive director of the mining company and had no influence over the police actions.

His legal representatives argue that the former president should not be responsible for any financial or constitutional repercussions stemming from the massacre.

This defense, however, is being fiercely contested by the miners’ legal team, who point to the emails, the alleged criminalization of the strike, and the clear involvement of high-ranking officials in orchestrating the response to the labor unrest.

The miners argue that the actions of the police were not a mere accident but a result of direct orders given by people in power.

A Community Still Waiting
Ten years later, the community in Marikana is still haunted by the trauma of what happened.

The survivors and the families of those killed in the massacre live with the heavy weight of unanswered questions.

The trial may be progressing, but for them, justice remains elusive.

The mine workers’ fight is not just for compensation but for the acknowledgment that their lives—and their deaths—matter.

With each passing year, the urgency for justice grows.

The Marikana massacre is a scar on the nation’s conscience, and many feel that without a full reckoning of the events that took place, the wounds will never fully heal.