Today, Sunday, 16 August 2026, marks 14 years since the tragic 2012 Marikana massacre, when 34 striking Lonmin platinum mineworkers near Rustenburg in the North West were gunned down by police at the koppie where the mineworkers had gathered.
The striking miners were demanding a living wage of R12,500 from Lonmin, now owned by Sibanye. The company refused to negotiate, and six mineworkers, two SAPS members and two security guards were murdered in the week leading up to the massacre.
The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) continues to condemn the stagnant living conditions of local miners and their communities. AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa insists that core grievances, including substandard living conditions, a lack of institutional accountability and unfulfilled housing promises, remain largely unresolved.
“Nothing has changed. Miners in Marikana continue to live in squalor. You can see for yourself that daily living conditions and basic service delivery remain largely unchanged, with persistent informal settlements like Nkaneng still lacking adequate infrastructure, while accountability and criminal prosecutions for the police killings remain elusive,” said Mathunjwa.
Fourteen years later, no one has been criminally charged in connection with the massacre, and the socioeconomic conditions that contributed to the violence have persisted, sparking further protests and bloody crackdowns across the country.
The families of the injured and arrested workers have remained persistent in their struggle for compensation, going to court to force the government to negotiate. The state has paid more than R100 million to the families of those killed.
The government states that it has disbursed almost R352 million to settle the majority of claims involving the families of the 34 miners killed, injured workers and those unlawfully arrested during the tragedy.
However, legal representatives and organisations such as the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) argue that full justice remains pending because the state has refused to pay additional constitutional damages.
Meanwhile, AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa is expected to lead the commemoration and deliver a keynote address in Marikana.
