As South Africa marks the 10-year anniversary of the Marikana massacre, authors Felix Dlangamandla, Thanduxolo Jika, Lucas Ledwaba, Sebabatso Mosamo, Athandiwe Saba and Leon Sadiki will be hosting an in-depth conversation on their critically acclaimed book, “We Are Going to Kill Each Other Today: The Marikana Story”.
Hosted by literature enthusiast Tebogo Ditinti, the panel discussion will feature “Marikana: The Musical” writer and director Aubrey Sekhabi.
Themed “Driving the conversation beyond the headlines – Marikana 10 years on”, the event is set to take place at the South African State Theatre (SAST) at 3pm today.
The conversation will take place alongside the photo exhibition “Marikana, A History Captured Live”, showcasing images captured by Ledwaba, Sadiki and Dlangamandla during the massacre.
On August 16, 2012 the South African police opened fire on a large crowd of men who had been on a wage strike at a platinum mine at Marikana, near Rustenburg, North West.
These writers and photographers were on the ground in Marikana as news reporters when police fired on a crowd of protesting mineworkers, claiming 34 lives.
Speaking to IOL Entertainment, Sadiki said the unpredictable events that led to the fatal shooting would remain with him for a long time.
“No one in their right mind would still be the same after seeing so many men being gunned down in front of their eyes,” said Sadiki.
“For me, it has changed the way I look at things. It has inspired the kind of work I do. I seek to build some sort of work that speaks to more advocacy and challenges the injustices in our society stage.
“If you look at the projects that we worked on with Lucas Ledwaba, ‘Broke and Broken: Shameful Legacy of Gold Mining in South Africa’ … this was a continuation of that particular project, 'We Are Going to Kill Each Other Today' in an effort to give voice to the voiceless.”
Sadiki said it took him nine years to return to Marikana because of what he witnessed on that day.
“It was a very unsettling sight to see people losing their lives. It took me time to return to Marikana. I only went back about a year ago. The place represented something very painful and sad.
“I don't think a lot of people understand the impact that the massacre has had, not only for the families of the men who were in Marikana but also for the journalists who actually covered the story.
“We are all still battling with the reality of what we witnessed on that day.
“These are the men that we engage with and many of them succumbed to their injuries in front of our eyes … It doesn’t matter which side you were on … either way you are going to battle with issues of post-traumatic stress.”
Sadiki explained that he was on his way back from covering a story in Botswana when he received a call from his editor, assigning him to cover the mining protest in Marikana.
“When we arrived on the 14th (of August), it was clear that this was a different kind of strike compared to other protests that I have covered previously. The mood was very volatile.
“It was not easy to access some of the miners that we wanted to speak to. I was surprised when I realised that my fellow colleagues were standing at a far distance, trying to find a way to engage with the miners because they were told that we were not allowed to talk to them.
“We were lucky to have Mgcinen ‘Mambush’ Noki, who was then the leader of the miners and managed to convince them to grant us access, so we speak to them about their grievances.”
Though people had been killed before the mass shooting, Sadiki said none of them anticipated what was to come on August 16.
“Knowing what had happened on the 16th, I'll be lying if I say I knew that the police were going to use excessive force that killed so many men on 16 August.
“We knew that the police were getting frustrated because the miners had abandoned their call to negotiate with anyone else but the mine management. And as we know now from the commission, that mine management refused to engage with the miners.
“On the day, there was a press conference that was held by the national police commissioner, who then said, ‘we are going to end this thing today. But she had never explained what she meant by that statement, but we now know that there was a plan drafted in stages. And that the end stage was the shooting that happened on the day.”
Ledwaba’s photographs of the Marikana massacre will be exhibited at the State Theatre today. The event is free and open to the public.
After the panel discussion and the exhibition, the curtain will go up when “Marikana: The Musical” unleashes a blow-by-blow account of the events that led to the loss of 44 lives at the hands of the police and miners.
The play gives faces and names to the fallen brothers, sons, fathers, and uncles. It features performers Meshack Mavuso-Magabane, Aubrey Poo, Siyasanga Papu, Emma Mmekwa, and Mpho “Mckenzie” Matome.
Catch “Marikana: The Musical” at the State Theatre at 8pm. Tickets are available at Webtickets for R150.