Ten years after the horrific massacre that claimed the lives of 34 mine workers at the Lonmin Platinum Mine in Marikana, those who have religiously attended its yearly observance have questioned why a decade later, August 16 has not been declared a public holiday to commemorate the lives lost.
Reflecting on the 28 years of South Africa’s democracy, the president of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, Joseph Mathunjwa, did not mince his words while expressing how “South Africa, as a country, was more functional during apartheid than it currently was”.