The spark that ignited the Marikana disaster was "muti" administered by a sangoma or sangomas on a number of workers participating in an unprotected strike. This witchcraft, which some strikers reportedly believed gave them invincibility and invisibility, was strangely glossed over in the report on Marikana. However, resorting to witchcraft in a strike situation is surely criminal, and the results are there for everyone to see. What is interesting, however, is that Judge Ian Farlam, who led the inquiry into the Marikana disaster, had previous experience of witchcraft in a strike situation in Barberton in 1995, when he presided as a judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal. In 2002, the court ruled in favour of Chevron Engineering after a legal battle against Nkambule & Others that lasted nine years, but Chevron had already ceased operations in Barberton as a consequence of the dispute. Witchcraft has no place in the South African economy, or for that matter in protest actions. Ned Sturg...
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