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 The Democratic Left Front (DLF) fully supports the “From Sharpeville to Marikana” Community Meeting organised by the Marikana Support Campaign to be held tomorrow as follows:
 
Date               :           21 March –Sharpeville Day
Time               :           2pm – 5pm
Venue            :           WONDERKOP COMMUNITY HALL, Marikana
 
The DLF also fully endorses the key demand of this meeting which calls for the dismissal of Ria Phiyega, the Commissioner of the South African Police, for her direct responsibility in failing to prevent the Marikana massacre. As evidence at the Farlam Commission has shown, the massacre was pre-mediated and deliberately orchestrated state violence against striking mineworkers. Workers were herded towards a barbed wire exit with tear gas and rubber bullets then gunned down as they tried to make their way through a narrow opening. Moreover, other workers were randomly shot in other parts, in and around ‘Horror Mountain’, and some were run down with police vehicles. Ria Phiyega must fall on her sword. And so must the whole ANC government and the Lonmin management take full responsibility and accountability for the cold-blooded murder of the 34 workers killed on 16 August 2012.
 
The Marikana massacre merely illustrates a well-established practice of ANC-police orchestrated violence against social protest and dissent, and wanton unaccountability as was shown in the murder of Mido Macia a few weeks ago and Andries Tatane in April 2011. As can be seen from worrying developments in the ongoing Tatane murder trial, the criminal justice system as a whole is also failing to tackle police brutality head-on. We decry the possibility that the state prosecutors seem to have done shoddy prosecutorial work which would mean no justice for Andries Tatane and his family. The Macia, Tatane and Marikana murders are the most visible expression of a low intensity war by the ANC state against the working class. South Africa is increasingly becoming a nightmare of state authoritarianism.
 
Tomorrow’s meeting is also an important moment in mobilising protest and voices against the complicity and responsibility of specific individuals including more police representatives, Lonmin management and the Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu as they appear before the Farlam commission in coming weeks. Tomorrow’s meeting will also hear from Amplats workers who have decided to resist and stop their threatened retrenchments. The Amplats Workers’ Committee will appeal for community solidarity against these retrenchments. Other speakers will be from the Wonderkop Womens Group, the Marikana Support Campaign, NACTU, AMCU and a lawyer representing the families of the miners at the commission. The DLF is an active member of the Marikana Support Campaign.