Devastating death of mineworkers due to exploitation

2012 MASSACRE: Its the blood bath, with police killing
people who did nothing wrong expect for fighting for their
rights. Picture Source: www.timeslive.co.za

34 mine workers were brutally killed last week, in Marikana, Rustenburg in the North West, South Africa. The mine workers were the victims of this massacre that occurred due to the strike that the employees of Lomnin recently took, because of the feeling of being exploited. Well, Lomnin is a well known platinum mining company, that bids and produces platinum, but what does this say about their reputation and of the mining industry? What happened in Marikana is just a symbol of exploitation in the mines. Is this because the mine workers are uneducated and that they are perceived as people who are inferior who can stand up for their rights? The law has to take its course on this matter with immediate effect, because if they just going to let this thing blow over, it will show that the South African government does not care about the grievance and the pain that the families of those unfortunate mine workers, had to  die fighting for what they believed was fair to them. The death toll from the week of Marikana violence stood at 44, including the 34 miners and another 10 people who were killed during the protest, including two policemen and two security guards.


BRING HIM BACK: A mother cried over her son's loss, at the
memorial held in Marikana, on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Picture source: www.timeslive.co.za

The revenue earned by the platinum mine companies is worth billions per annam , but they can't satisfy the needs of their employees. This brings me to a question; what do public relations practitioners do about grievance of employees when they feel that they are exploited and are being taken for granted? Well the last time I checked public relations practitioners or communication managers are the to make sure that the needs of different groups of stakeholders are well taken care of and that there is a mutual understanding between both parties. 29 workers who died are reported to have come from the Eastern Cape, can you imagine the pain their families are going through right now, some of their families will face dire financial constraints, since the food prices are so exorbitant. 



ASTONDANCE: this woman fainted,
at the memorial service , since she is one
of those lost their loved ones in the
massacre. source: www.timeslive.co.za

What is our government to do about this tragic, and what is it that Lomnin going to do to compensate the pain of those families that lost their children while they were only bread-winners to their families, I doubt that there is any amount money that will ever close the big gap of losing a child. Who is to blame about all of this, is it the law or Bheki Cele's 'Shoot to kill'. Regretfully, all the politicians are climbing on the gravy train band waggon and taking this occasion to profit for themselves. Where were they prior to the shooting, did they try to defuse the militant strikers attitudes. Also I query the Bishop's motive in trying blame the mine officials, does he not understand business logic. No profit no mine it is as simple as that. The law must be fair though and Lomnin take a responsibility to look after the families of those who lost their lives, and this incident, reflecting back to Lomnin needs a good PR to convince the public that they are still worth of their support and approval, by so doing this they must prove by taking responsibilities.