On August 16, 2012, police opened fire on miners at the Lonmin platinum mine who had been protesting for several days demanding a pay rise. Thirty-four of them were killed, and the drama, unprecedented in post-apartheid South Africa, deeply shocked the country. The wound is struggling to heal, and the country is hesitating on how the tragedy should be commemorated.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Meshack Mavuso plays the role of “ the man with the green blanket “. With his real name Mgcineni Noki, this man had become one of the leaders of the group of demonstrators. For the actor, one of the vocations of the musical revived by the State Theater of Pretoria is to pay tribute to all these victims.
” Before going on stage, we pray, we light incense, and we call the deceased, to tell them that we are here, today, to represent them, to tell people what they fought for. “, he says at the microphone of RFI.
In order to write this work, Aubrey Sekhabi, who is also the director, relied on a book written by several journalists. And the choice of format was made naturally, while other musicals like “Sarafina! already tell the painful history of the country
” You know they all sang a lot of songs “recalls Aubrey. ” When there are demonstrations, in South Africa, we sing, when we are happy, we sing, when we mourn, we sing. So we tell our story, in a form that we know very well, namely music. »
At the exit, the public is won over: “ The way the story is told is very powerful. It is an important story to pass on to future generations, to remember why it is important to fight for what you believe in and for those who are mistreated and victims of injustice. said Ntsiki, a spectator. The musical is due to play until the end of the month.
Telling about the Marikana massacre
But for Luke Sinwell, professor of sociology at the University of Johannesburg, there is a problem in the way Marikana is sometimes presented and commemorated. Despite the establishment of a commission of inquiry, which delivered its report in 2015, no one has, so far, been condemned for his responsibility in this drama, even if the report had placed a large responsibility on the forces of order. Since then, the memory of Marikana hangs over the ANC government, and of President Cyril Ramaphosa, who at the time was a member of the mining group’s board of directors.
For the researcher, the way things unfolded should not be obscured by presenting the drama as an accident. “ The most important thing is how Marikana is remembered. The ANC government, like the mining industry, presents the Marikana deaths as a tragedy, when we consider it a massacre, and a premeditated murder, with the aim of curbing the power of the working class , which emerged during these strikes in the platinum belt area “explains the author of The Spirit of Marikana: The Rise of Insurgent Trade Unionism in South Africa, which tells the story of the miners’ anger movement.
“ There was a chain reaction that set in, and the ANC government and Lonmin worked together to come up with a plan to end the strike. So, we cannot present these deaths as a tragedy, as something for which we are all responsible, as the musical Marikana, among others, does. By presenting the facts like this, it prevents us from identifying who is really responsible “, emphasizes Luke Sinwell.