Stilfontein miners have human rights like you, too, Minister Ntshavheni!
By Luvo Mnyobe
Protesters call for justice and change at the Stilfontein Solidarity Picket held outside the annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.
Stilfontein will and must be remembered as one of the worst tragedies we have witnessed in the thirty years we have had democracy in South Africa. In months, beginning in August 2024, 87 artisanal miners were left deserted and hung out to die by an uncaring state, whose neglectful inaction can be argued to be negligent, especially in a constitutional democracy which guarantees human rights, regardless of the miners’ alleged criminality.
But the sacrifice of artisanal miners in Stilfontein is not the first time that the South African state has enacted violence on mineworkers simply trying to put food on the table. The Marikana Massacre in which 34 miners were gunned will forever etched in South Africans collective memory. Marikana, was in many ways a precursor to Stifontein and should have alerted us to the lengths which government would go to in order to punish working class people in protection of corporate interests, particularly those in the extractivist mining industry.
For far too long the South African government has enabled the antagonisation of communities that have taken a stand against major corporations seeking to exploit their natural resources and labour for profit that will never make its way back to the country. In communities like Xolobeni, where Shell attempted to build a mine, against the wishes of the community. In Makhasaneni where Jindaal is attempting to stomp on graves to build a mine against the wishes of the community. Going as far as breaking customary law and informal land rights to build these mines.
“For far too long the South African government has enabled the antagonisation of communities that have taken a stand against major corporations seeking to exploit their natural resources and labour for profit that will never make its way back to the country.”
On Wednesday the 5th of January, a collective of young people gathered at the doorstep of the Mining Indaba held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre calling for justice for those sacrificed in Stilfontein.
Mahdio Mohapi, from the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Klerksdorp, near Stilfontein, had been part of the group providing humanitarian services to those who resurfaced from the shafts. “I helped to rescue the dead bodies. It was so painful to see your brothers being treated like dogs in Stilfontein,” she said at the picket between tears, “Remember when Minister Ntshavheni said she will ‘smoke them out’? Well now she has smoked them out.”
The picket was meant to send a message to the gathering attended by some of the powerful in the mining industry and government officials including Ministers and Heads of State that artisanal miners should not be criminalised for trying to make a livelihood for themselves and their families.
In his opening remarks at the Mining in Indaba, Minister Gwede Mantashe, made it clear where the government stands. Reiterating the government's stance that they will not be assisting those still stuck at Shaft 11 and going far as labelling them as criminals. The Minister who leads the Mineral and Petroleum portfolio told the Indaba that “South Africans say on humanitarian grounds, it’s a human rights issue, please protect the illegal miners. Give them food. Give them treatment. Give them this and that. And I ask: you want us to be humanitarian when dealing with criminals? What are we going to do when we must deal with people who are genuine and contributing to the economy?”
“It seems that who we consider human, how we understand criminality, and who gets the right to a fair trial – and who does not – is deeply tied to the systems that allow for the government’s complicity in extractive violence and disregard for human rights of those it deems disposable. ”
This criminalisation comes after Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a high-ranking minister in the South African government, took to the podium in front of journalists late last year and announced that South Africa would fold its arms at the tragedy that befell these miners. According to Ntshavheni, the miners were stuck at the depths of the earth, which was their own doing, and the South African State would not be involved in any rescue of them as alleged "criminals."
Responding to a question by a journalist whether, in the face of this great tragedy, the State would be sending assistance to rescue the trapped miners, Ntshavheni responded, "We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be persecuted." Ntshavheni's comments are unsavoury and even despicable. They go against our very constitution which allows any accused person the right to a free and fair trial rather than persecution and a death sentence.
“Our economies cannot be built on the backs of human suffering. ”
But when news first broke of the entrapment of the artisanal miners in Stilfontein, Ntshavheni delivered those remarks calling for their persecution. Indeed, they were persecuted by the State's inaction, leading to the death of nearly 100 people due to deprivation of water, food, and healthcare, which are also fundamental rights enshrined by our constitution. Ntshavheni remarked, "We didn't send them there and they didn't go down there for the good benefit and good intentions of the Republic", referring to the artisanal's alleged criminality. And yet, just last week the Hawks announced that it would be launching an investigation into alleged criminality by the Minister herself, who was also implicated in alleged corruption according to a 2022 Open Secrets Investigative Report on State Capture.
When the news of this report and investigation was made public, no one did, nor should they have called for her persecution. Why then were the miners of Stilfontein not afforded the same opportunity? Why then was the modus operandi of xenophobia mobilised to assuage the government of its wrongdoing?
It seems that who we consider human, how we understand criminality, and who gets the right to a fair trial – and who does not – is deeply tied to the systems that allow for the government’s complicity in extractive violence and disregard for human rights of those it deems disposable. Our economies cannot be built on the backs of human suffering. Showing these connections and speaking truth to power will always be the first step in creating a more just world.
