Statement: The right to protest banned again in Marikana!
Today Rustenburg officials have banned a protest from going ahead in Marikana on the anniversary of the Marikana massacre. The purpose of the protest: to call for officials to stop interfering with the right to protest in Marikana!
Tomorrow’s march, organised by the Marikana Youth Development Organisation (MYD), was directed at Tharisa Mines, which is the subject of long-running community grievances. Since 2017, Tharisa management, the municipality and police have used every possible avenue to stop the community from exercising its right to protest at Tharisa. Today’s events follow a long list of refusals, delays, and obstructions (see background here and here). Today’s reason for the municipality to ban the march is that police failed to attend the pre-planning meeting convened by the municipality. This has nothing to do with Marikana Youth Development and we should not be held responsible!
A key demand of tomorrow’s march is for the mine, the municipality and the police to stop undermining the community’s right to protest. Another key demand is that Tharisa should fire its head of security, William Mpembe, who was previously Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner and a key actor in the incidents leading up to the Marikana massacre. As a member of the mine’s management, Mpembe has alleged repeatedly and falsely that MYD leaders are plotting violent attacks against the mine.
In August 2012, Marikana was the site of the worst crime against protest since the end of apartheid. Yet today, six years later, we still have mines like Tharisa and municipalities who undermine the right to protest. We call on the officials involved to respect our rights!
