JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s commission of inquiry into the killings at the Marikana mines will have the power to summon witnesses, the justice minister announced yesterday.
The details of the investigation came as South Africa’s wave of mining strikes spread to another gold mine.
The commission will investigate the 46 deaths during the Lonmin PLC mine strike. Police killed 34 miners on Aug. 16 in Marikana. Eleven had already died in violence there before the shootings, and a councilor in the African National Congress died Wednesday after being shot by a rubber bullet during a raid in the area, bringing the death toll to 46.
“The primary objective of the commission of inquiry is to investigate the underlying causes of this tragedy and establish the truth that is vital for the restoration of harmony, peace, and justice to all affected by these unfortunate events,” said Justice Minister Jeff Radebe Friday in Pretoria.
The inquiry will look into the roles played by Lonmin, the South African police, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union and the National Union of Mineworkers in the violence “in relation to all the events before, during and after the unfortunate incidents in Marikana,” Radebe said. It will also determine whether any of those investigated could have put measures into place to prevent the violence.
The first phase of the four-month inquiry will cost the government more than 20 million rand ($2.4 million), he said. Public hearings will be held at the Marikana Hall starting Oct. 1, and transportation will be provided for families wanting to attend, he said.
Miners for the Lonmin PLC platinum mine returned to work Thursday after a nearly six-week strike, but labor unrest has spread to several gold, platinum and chrome mines, damaging investor confidence in the country that produces 75 percent of world platinum and is the No. 4 chrome producer and in the top 10 of gold producers.
Lonmin’s deal to increase pay to its miners by up to 22 percent has also influenced workers at other mines who are now demanding similar raises.
Strikes spread late Thursday to the Kopanang mine, which employs 5,000 staff, the company’s spokesman Alan Fine said yesterday. He said the strike at the mine about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southwest of Johannesburg began with the night shift, but said the company hasn’t yet received any demands or communications from strikers on what they are demanding.
S. Africa probes police killings at Marikana
S. Africa probes police killings at Marikana
Homeless Muslims in southern Philippines observe Ramadan as month of trial
- Thousands lost their homes when parts of Bongao in Tawi-Tawi were burnt to ashes
- Many trying to fully observe the fasting month say they are grateful to be alive
Manila: As Annalexis Abdulla Dabbang was looking forward to observing the month of Ramadan with her family, just days before it began they lost everything when an enormous fire tore through whole neighborhoods of their city in the southernmost province of the Philippines.
Bongao is the capital of Tawi-Tawi, an island province, forming part of the country’s Muslim minority heartland in the Bangsamoro region. The city experienced its worst fire in years in early February, when flames swept through the coastal community, leaving more than 5,000 people homeless.
“We were swimming for our lives. We had to swim to escape from the fire ... We swam in darkness, and (even) the sea was already hot because of the fire,” Dabbang, a 27-year-old teacher, told Arab News.
“Everything we owned was gone in just a few hours — our home, our memories, the things we worked hard for, everything turned to ashes.”
Trying to save their 2-year-old daughter and themselves, she and her husband left everything behind — as did hundreds of other families that together with them have since taken shelter at the Mindanao State University gymnasium — one of the evacuation centers.
Unable to secure a tent, Dabbang’s family has been sleeping on the bleachers, sharing a single mat as their bed. When Ramadan arrived a few days after they moved to the makeshift shelter, they welcomed it in a different, more solemn way. There is no family privacy for suhoor, no room or means to welcome guests for iftar.
“Ramadan feels different now. It’s painful but at the same time more real. When we lost our home, we began to understand what sacrifice really means. When you sleep in an evacuation center, you understand hunger, discomfort in a deeper way,” Dabbang said.
“We don’t prepare special dishes. We prepare our hearts.”
While she and thousands of others have lost everything they have ever owned, she has not lost her faith.
“Our dreams may have turned to ashes, but our prayers are still alive,” she said.
“This Ramadan my prayers are more emotional than ever. I pray for strength, not just for myself, but for my family and for every neighbor who also lost their family home. I pray for healing from the trauma of fire. I pray that Allah will replace what we lost with something better. I pray for the chance to rebuild not just our house, but our sense of security.”
Juraij Dayan Hussin, a volunteer helping the Bongao fire victims, observed that many of them were traumatized and the need to cleanse the heart and mind during Ramadan was what kept many of them going, because they are “thankful that even though they lost their property, they are still alive.”
But the religious observance related to the fasting month is not easy in a cramped shelter.
“It’s hard for Muslims to perform their prayers when they do not have their proper attire because they usually have specific clothes for prayer,” he said. “Sanitation in the area is also an issue ... when you fast and when you pray, cleanliness is essential.”
For Abdulkail Jani, who is staying at a basketball court with his brother and more than 70 other families, this Ramadan will be spent apart from their parents, whom they managed to move to relatives.
“The month of Ramadan this year is a month of trial ... there will be a huge change from how we observed Ramadan in the past, but we will adjust to it and try to comfort ourselves and our family. The most important thing is that we can perform the fasting,” he told Arab News.
“Despite our situation now, despite everything, as long as we’re alive, we will observe Ramadan. We’ll try to observe it well, without missing anything.”
