27 August 2025

BY AMCU PRESIDENT JOSEPH MATHUNJWA

SUMMARY: On 16 August 2025, I delivered my keynote address at the Thirteenth Commemoration of the Marikana Massacre. As has been the case for the past thirteen years, my words carried both remembrance and challenge, and some were met with mixed reactions from political analysts. Through this letter, written from my desk to you, I seek to further explain the message and meaning behind that address.

Dear Comrades, Compatriots, Colleagues and Friends,

Thirteen years have now passed since the South African police massacred 34 mineworkers in broad daylight at Marikana. That massacre was not a “tragedy” or an“unfortunate incident”, as the mainstream media once tried to portray it. It was a calculated and premeditated act of violence — a concomitant action ordered to protect the interests of capital and executed in collusion between business and the state.

Our commemoration this year carried the theme: “Your concomitant action betrayed our loyalty! We will never forget the betrayal! They will do it again!” These words arenot merely slogans. They capture the bitter truth of our lived history. On 15 August 2012, an email by Mr Cyril Ramaphosa called for “concomitant action” against striking workers. One day later, workers lay dead on the koppie. Thirteen years later, the betrayal continues: no apology to the widows, no accountability for those who ordered the killings, and those implicated rewarded with the highest offices in the land.

We remember Marikana not only to honour the fallen, but also to educate and conscientise. Too many South Africans remain unaware of the forces that converged to create that bloody day: a state captured by foreign mining interests, a police force weaponised against its own people, and a political elite willing to sacrifice workers’ lives to preserve power and profit.

When I spoke at Constitution Hill, I reminded our nation that the betrayal is ongoing. The so-called National Dialogue convened by government on the very week of our commemoration was nothing more than a fresh concomitant action — another attempt to divert attention, another political circus to mask leadership failure. South Africa hasspent nearly R2 billion on commissions of inquiry, yet no justice has come for Marikana,for corruption, for the workers who died and continue to suffer. This is not democracy; it is state-sanctioned mediocrity and manipulation.

Some have reacted with shock to my remark: “If I am not president, is it not better that a white president be elected?” But let me explain. This was never about nostalgia for white minority rule. It was about exposing a dangerous perception: that our politics has become so racialised, so paralysed, that we dare not ask whether leadership should be judged by ethics and competence rather than skin colour.

After 30 years under so-called “black leadership”, has the life of the poor improved? Or has poverty, unemployment, GBVF, crime and corruption worsened? To raise thisquestion is not betrayal. It is an invitation to national introspection. South Africa must break the cycle of race-based politics and embrace ethical, capable and compassionate leadership.

That is why AMCU gave birth to the Labour Party of South Africa at its Special National Congress held on 5 July 2023 — a genuine political alternative rooted not in race but in a proven track record, values and accountability. Just as AMCU fought and delivered the R12 500 living wage, so too will the Labour Party fight for a constitutional reset, a two-party system to end political chaos, a presidential democracy directly accountable to the people, and a federal system where communities run their own affairs.

We refuse to normalise betrayal. We refuse to accept mediocrity. We refuse to forget Marikana massacre. Our call to South Africans is simple: lose your tolerance for corruption, injustice and broken promises — and you will gain your revolution.

AMCU will make the difference!

Yours in Social Justice,

Joseph Mathunjwa
AMCU President

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