Durban - With the seventh anniversary of the Marikana Massacre less than two weeks away and the storm around the funding of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential campaign erupting, August could prove to be a long month for the head of state.
As the leaked emails saga took centre stage over the weekend, the Economic Freedom Fighters National Chairperson Dali Mpofu did not miss the opportunity to bring to the fore the Marikana Massacre on Twitter.
On Saturday, Mpofu took a dig at Ramaphosa, tweeting: “Welcome to the Month...The Month of Mambush! He who KILLS by the email DIES by the email!” in reference to Mgcineni Noki, commonly known as the Man in Green Blanket, the leader of the protesting miners who was gunned by police on 16 August 2012. In total, 34 miners were killed on the day. Ramaphosa, who was on the board of mining company Lonmin at the time of the massacre, called for “concomitant action” to be taken against the striking mine workers prior to the shooting that led to the loss of 34 miners lives.
By labelling August 'the month of Mambush', Mpofu is implying that the spirit of the Man in the Green Blanket is haunting Ramaphosa.
Ralph Mathekga, a political analyst, said that given the leaked emails detailing funding of Ramaphosa’s ANC presidential race which allege that Ramaphosa had liaised with funders it was clear that he was now under siege.
The Presidency has since issued a statement referring to the leaked emails as just smoke and mirrors, saying that Ramaphosa had not committed any crimes nor was he obligated to declare who the donors of his 2017 ANC presidential campaign had been.
“The President is soon going to be accused of using the Presidency to respond to an internal party matter, as they issued a statement. I can just imagine Ace Magashule saying people are using state institutions to communicate internal party matters.
“The EFF has resolved to attack him and I think they might resuscitate the Marikana issue, because the Marikana issue is too big to be laid to rest anytime soon. I think it will be laid to rest when he retires because it is such an attractive, low-hanging fruit, for any political party to use against him,” Mathekga said.
He said that he was expecting the EFF to agitate communities around Marikana as the date of the seventh anniversary of the massacre draws closer.