The guns in Marikana were aimed at the families of slain workers too
The Marikana massacre is in every village and will have a lasting effect on the thinking about mines, the police and state
Mzukisi Sompeta was shot dead by the police at Marikana on August 16 2012. His mother, Mabhengu Sompeta, says that they also killed her husband, who died elsewhere two weeks after she had buried Mzukisi. Several years ago she expressed anger at the state’s failure to apologise or show remorse, telling a journalist: "With [President Jacob] Zuma, he didn’t respond to the families of Marikana and he didn’t come to listen to us. He didn’t apologise or show remorse for what his police did, just like his commissioner [Riah Phiyega]." Today, on human rights day, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA (Seri) is launching a video, Time to Bring the Truth Home, capturing the experiences of the survivor’s families and their communities. In the video, the victim’s families, like Sompeta, express outrage at their loss and the state’s failure to apologise for the massacre. The short for the video is fittingly titled Time for an Apology. "August 16 reminds me of June 16," says Anele, a friend o...
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