As we mark 20 years since the end of apartheid and the advent of democracy, there is a deep rupturing of the post-apartheid social consensus in the face of intensifying class struggle. The signals for its end are the Marikana massacre, the great mineworkers' strike...
strike
The Platinum Strike: A voice From the Ground
Amadla! Could you give some background to the ongoing strike and explain the factors that led to the continuing mass action? Mineworker (M): The un dermining by employers, by not coming to (fulfilling)their offer that the workers in 2012 died for. Impala, Anglo and...
Mining strike: Whose reality is ‘the real world’?
Everyone, other thaN lunatics, troublemakers and the economically illiterate, is supposed to know that the demand by the striking platinum workers for a starting basic wage of R12 500 is plainly unaffordable. Indeed, anything even near R12 500 is supposedly so...
Cosatu
Vavi is back. after nine months of suspension, a successful lawsuit set the way for Vavi's return to Cosatu. This confirms Numsa's contention that the original suspension of Vavi violated Cosatu's constitution, indicating that Cosatu president S'dumo Dlaminiand his...
The Fall of Bophutaswana
In 1994 the Bantustan Dictator, Lucas Mangope refused to participate in the transformation of South Africa. On Friday, 3 March 1994 we met as teachers at Rooigrond hotel which was just outside the fictional borders of Bophutatswana, and about a kilometer from...
Marikana: 1 year later | by Benjamin Fogel
Just over a year has passed since the Marikana massacre and the amount of critical reflection on the worst act of state violence since the end of apartheid is minimal at best. Other scandals have dominated the news cycle, from Nkandla to Guptagate, along with endless...
Commemorating Marikana: The Spirit of Mambush Lives on
Luke Sinwell and Siphiwe Mbatha On 16 August 2013, exactly one year after the Marikana Massacre, 20,000 workers peacefully commemorated that fateful day. Church leaders, political parties, progressives and the workers themselves addressed the crowd – including...
The state of the struggle:Lonmin workers’ organising one year later
by Benjamin Fogel The Lonmin Worker's Council was birthed by last year's wildcat strike at the London Mining (Formerly London Rhodesian mining) mines in Marikana. The strike itself emanated from a long-running dispute between workers and management stemming both from...
The Amplats workers’ committee dilemma | by Benjamin Fogel
The Amplats workers' committee formed during last year's Marikana wildcat strike on the platinum belt. The Amplats strike did not begin because of the events at Lonmin; it arose out of a long-running dispute between workers, NUM and Amplats. Since June 2012 workers at...

