Brits - Residents of Mmakau, outside Brits in the North West, sang and danced ahead of a special reconciliation ceremony to help residents deal with a slew of tragedies including the Marikana massacre which have cast a dark stain on the province.
Dressed in blue, red, black and white, denoting their different church regalia, residents beat drums, clapped and danced under a huge white tent near the tribal authority offices in Mmakau on Wednesday.
The reconciliation ceremony was one of North West Premier Supra Mahumapelo’s initiatives to reach out to the communities of the North West province and to help them in dealing with a number of painful encounters such as the Marikana and Mothutlung incidents.
Forty-four people were killed in Marikana in August 2012, during a wage strike at the Lonmin platinum mine. On August 16, 2012, 34 people were killed when the police fired at them, apparently trying to disarm and disperse striking miners. A week earlier, 10 people, including two policemen and two Lonmin security guards, were killed as violence escalated in the build-up to the massacre at Marikana.
In 2014, four people including a freelance photographer, were killed in Mothutlong, near Brits, during a protest over access to water. The Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature, Susan Dantjie, was due to speak to residents later on Wednesday about the incident.
Church ministers from different churches were expected to pray for reconciliation, healing and renewal within the province’s communities.
ANA