The EFF Leader, Julius Malema, said the party is still pained by the fact that 34 mineworkers, lost their lives during the 2012 Marikana Massacre adding that the party will take the government of the North West to court, to force it to declare the Koppie (a small hill) – where the massacre took place- a National Heritage site.
Malema said 16 August should be declared a Workers Day, in remembrance of the 34 mineworkers who were brutally killed by the police during the delivery of his keynote address on Wednesday at the party’s pre-anniversary celebration at the Marikana Koppie, outside Rustenburg, North West.
He said they are celebrating to free the spirit of those killed during the Marikana Massacre and added that the party will forever be associated with Marikana, and no one will separate the two.
“We’re here to perform a ritual to free the spirit of our beloved lost brothers. We’re going to slaughter a cow as it has the power to attract the attention of the deceased, so we are going to connect with them using a cow. After this slaughtering we expect all of you to love one another, have integrity and respect everyone.
“On 16 August 2012, we watched our brothers, our sons, husbands and breadwinners executed live on television as a result of a toxic condition between the state and Lonmin mine. We thought it all came to an end when there was a white man shouting at a black police man to cease fire and the revolutionaries laid lifeless, with bullets filling their bodies, only to find out that our brothers who survived the first shooting were hunted down and killed and had weapons planted next to them, in an attempt to portray them as violent, ” said Malema.
The EFF will officially celebrate its 10th birthday anniversary on Saturday 29 July 2023, at the FNB Stadium.
