When high-school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. As I watched the footage of how the Marikana shootings unfolded, I had a feeling of déjà vu. When Nelson Mandela took office in 1994 he made a promise to South Africans. A promise that made me excited about coming to this country five years ago.
In his own words, the father of the nation said ‘’never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another”. In the awake of Marikana, I wondered what went wrong. This was not the plan set out by Nelson Mandela. This was not the promise he made to South Africa and the whole continent 18 years ago.
I had a conversation with one of my classmates one day about Marikana and he angrily said ’’these multinationals are exploiting our people and they should be blamed for what happened’’. I especially asked for his opinion because he calls himself a fervent ANC supporter, ready to die for the ruling party. My classmate got even more irritated when I remarked that the Government is exploiting the people and Mangaung was to blame for what happened. I don’t think he understood what I meant. I think he never will.
If one is willing to take the emotions out of the Marikana debate, my rationale will make sense. What I refer to as ‘’Mangaung’’ is not the name of one of the miners or police officers involved in the Marikana shootings. I have faith in the commission of enquiry and if it was the case, they wouldn’t have left that stone unturned. When I say ‘’Mangaung’’ I am referring to the ANC's next elective conference in December.
Mangaung has killed 46 people and paralysed the economy. All the media reports dealing with the underlining causes of Marikana have failed to address the elephant in the room.
The country’s leadership is the root of the problem. The Government’s failure to step up and act when it matters the most led to the unfortunate Marikana massacre. Over the past two years at least, Mangaung has been the most important point on the Government’s agenda. Other important issues such as the economy, job creation, and service delivery have taken a back seat. The road to Mangaung gunned the country down.
Several experts suggest South Africa’s image has taken a huge blow after Marikana.They say foreign investments have suffered since the massacre. But Marikana was just the straw that broke the camel's back. What we learnt from it is where the priorites of the leadership lie. For them the priority was Mangaung. Going there and keeping the throne.
According to a United Nations report, foreign direct investment flows to South Africa tumbled 43.6% in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period last year. This shows that Marikana which only took place in August has got nothing to do with the poor state of the economy. Even more revealing perhaps, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s recently downgraded South Africa’s sovereign ratings, citing the government’s "diminished capacity" to handle its political and economic challenges.
The ruling party is determined to hold onto power for as long as possible, at any cost. Never mind the 46 dead. Every country in the world faces its own challenges. However when a nation is going through dark days, the people need a leadership that can actually lead. The kind of leadership they can believe in. In South Africa that leadership has been non-existent. Yet, Mangaung was the only thing the current leaders have in mind .You can’t help but think: Another five years? The country might not survive.
Many people have already criticised President Jacob Zuma’s ability to lead the country including some unlikely commentators from his own ranks. When addressing delegates at the Ahmed Kathrada’s Foundation’s annual lecture, Trevor Manuel asked when referring to Marikana’’ what do recent events mean for our sense of nationhood? What do these events mean for the leadership of the tri-partite alliance, whose components are credited with leading from depths of oppression to the present?’’. Well, we wouldn’t really know would we? But if the Minister in the Presidency asks such questions, it is a clear indication that there is a problem.
The question we need to ask is: Could Marikana have been avoided? The answer is yes. But on one condition: If there was a different leadership or simply one that cared. Greed, corruption, internal battles have characterised the ruling party over the past few years. Unless the attitude changes, events such as Marikana are bound to happen again.
South Africans need to realise that they have the power to choose their leaders. As 2014 draws closer, it is high time they assessed the past five years and make a decision that will save the country from drowning.
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