NEHAWU CONDEMNS THE BARBARIC KILLING OF AN NUM FEMALE SHOPSTEWARD IN MARIKANA OVER THE WEEKEND NEHAWU is shocked and disgusted by the barbaric assassination of an NUM female shop steward, Comrade Nobongile Nora Madolo, in Marikana over the weekend. This is made worse by the fact that this, took place in a month that is dedicated to women. During this month, we pay homage to the role of women in our society and also highlight the struggles they still face in their battle for total emancipation. We send our condolences to her family, colleagues and our sister union the NUM. Our union is disappointed that a year after the Marikana tragedy, workers are still being senselessly slaughtered by anarchists for no apparent reason. The police have failed the people and workers at Marikana by their negligent policing and slow reaction to these killings. We are calling on the national leadership and structures of the police to intervene in Marikana and bring the cowardly assassins to book. The mining bosses are not innocent in this whole sad episode of poor workers killing each other, because they instigate the animosity amongst the workers and sponsor the warlords through their actions. The enormous wealth they have amassed over the years had nothing to do with enterprise, or technological advancement but was as a result of super exploitation and misery of mineworkers. Over 70 000 workers have needlessly died in South African mining sector since its inception, including from silicosis and tuberculosis as a results of occupational hazards. Today we still have one of the highest mining death rates in the world. Our sister union, the NUM has been under siege from the vigilantes and criminals in the Platinum belt for a long time now. The emergence of warlodism and vigilantism in the mining sector is very troubling and is made worse by the failure of AMCU to commit to peace and stability. Violence and intimidation is now used to recruit workers from the NUM, Unelected leaders establish and maintain themselves through these cowardly acts. Workers must know that they are pawns in a game of greedy capitalists and their henchmen, when they kill each other. We call on all workers to reject anarchism but build unity in order to wage a fight for improved wages and better working conditions. They must not allow the mine bosses to divide and weaken them. They will gain nothing by fighting each other, except destroying their livelihoods. Issued by NEHAWU Secretariat Office For further information, please contact: Sizwe Pamla (NEHAWU Media Liaison Officer) at 011 833 2902 - 082 558 5962 or email: [email protected] Visit NEHAWU website: nehawu.org.za
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 08:43:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015