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Marikana, 10 Years On:

A One-day Symposium on the legacy of the Marikana Massacre

Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Streamed Online

20 August 2022

Presented by Africa Is a Country with support from Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Southern African Office)

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August 16th, 2022 marks a decade since the Marikana Massacre.

There is a need for reflection on this moment.

The Marikana massacre remains a staunch demonstration that state violence of this ilk was not something that could be relegated to the colonial and apartheid past. It raised myriad questions related to post-apartheid social dynamics, most notably the question of justice for those who were killed and their families, post-apartheid labor law, the relationship between the state and capital, the working conditions for mine workers in South Africa, super-exploitation and the nature of South African democracy. But it also challenged the view of South Africa’s political scene as exceptional. As one of the organizers of our symposium argued in an op-ed piece on The Atlantic a week after the massacre, Marikana also proved that South Africa’s problems were no longer specific to apartheid’s legacy, but global problems of poverty and inequality.  

One-day Symposium on the legacy of the Marikana Massacre

On August 20th, 2022 at Constitution Hill – the site of South Africa’s highest court – in Johannesburg, South Africa, we are planning an in-person one-day symposium to reflect on the legacies of the Marikana massacre. The symposium will also be streamed live.

The symposium is sponsored by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and Africa Is a Country.

The symposium includes a public event featuring high-profile speakers - Ronnie Kasrils, a former freedom fighter and government minister serving under Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki; and Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, one of the country’s leading psychologists and an expert on violent histories and transgenerational trauma.

Other panelists include:  Ziyanda Stuurman, a policing and security analyst and author of the book “Can We Be Safe? The future of policing in South Africa”;  Camalita Naicker, a lecturer in history at the University of Cape Town with a research focus on the ‘afterlives’ of Marikana; Gabisile Khanyile, the Secretary of Sinethemba Womens' Organization in Marikana in the Northwest Province of South Africa; and Mzoxolo Magidiwana is a former mineworker at Lonmin and a survivor of the Marikana massacre.

We feel the interventions of our panelists are necessary to counteract other discourses that have framed the Marikana massacre, such as the Farlam Commission’s official finding that the strikers were to blame for the massacre as they were striking both violently and outside the legal frameworks for striking.  

Through the symposium, we are trying to reignite critical engagement with this defining moment in post-apartheid history; facilitate the formation of networks and comradery among a like-minded Left “youth,” especially its intellectuals, in South Africa after the alienation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; inject a critical Left voice into the public space as an authoritative voice on Marikana and how to interpret its legacies as it shall no doubt be in conversation in popular media, and in official statements that may attempt to whitewash the event; and, finally, to reflect upon the impact of this epochal event in terms of the current social and economic crisis South Africa faces.

Some of the questions to be explored by the panels are:

●      How did democracy fail Marikana?

●      What forms of justice, if any, have the people of Marikana experienced or can we still expect this for them?  

●      What has changed regarding the living and working conditions for the workers and residents on the Platinum belt over the last decade?

●      Why did progressives abandon the workers of Marikana?

●      Why did left parties or ideas not gain traction among voters after Marikana given the ANC’s implication in these events as the state and its linkages to mining bosses?

●      The Economic Freedom Fighters was formed in the wake of Marikana. What is the verdict on it?

●      Another major development was the formation of the independent postapartheid unions and the split of the South African Federation of Trade Unions from COSATU. What has been the consequence of Marikana for trade unions or new political parties?

The main organizers of the conference are Claire-Anne Lester, William Shoki, Benjamin Fogel and Sean Jacobs.

Claire-Anne is a Lecturer in Sociology at Stellenbosch University; Benjamin is a Ph.D. Candidate in History at New York University and a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine; William Shoki is Staff Writer of Africa is Country and a postgraduate student at the University of Witwatersrand; and Sean Jacobs, Founder-Editor of Africa Is a Country and Associate Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City.

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Program

10h30 – 11h00: Welcome and Introduction

11:00 - 12:30                            Critical reflections on justice after Marikana

With Shaeera Akbar Kalla, Ziyanda Stuurman, and Naadira Munshi. Chaired by Claire-Anne Lester.

Lunch

13:30-15:00                              Labour and Marikana

Camalita Naicker, Luke Sinwell and Trevor Ngwane. Chaired by Ben Fogel

Tea Break

15:30-17:00 Panel 3                  Public Event: The Future of Marikana

With Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Ronnie Kasrils and Makhanya Siphamandla. Chaired by Will Shoki.

17:30-18:30                              Rebuilding a Marikana Solidarity network on the Left

With Jim Nichol, Gabisile Khanyile, and Mzoxolo Magidiwana. Chaired by Luke Sinwell.

18:30 - Live Music and Light Food

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‍For media inquiries, please contact (Phone, WhatsApp, and or Email):

Claire-Anne Lester: +27 78 198 1156 and clairelest@gmail.com

Will Shoki: +27 81 305 2484 and will@africasacountry.com

Ben Fogel:  +27 67 1654875   gonzostig@gmail.com

Sean Jacobs: +1 718 4736849 and tintinyana@gmail.com

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Photo: Greg Marinovich / Daily Maverick

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