On August 16th, 2012, 34 striking miners at Marikana were gunned down by South African security forces in the Marikana Massacre. It was the single most lethal use of force by the South African government since the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960.
In August 2012, mineworkers in one of South Africa’s biggest platinum mines began a wildcat strike for better wages. Six days into the strike, the police used live ammunition to brutally suppress the strike, killing 34 and injuring many more. Using the POV of the Marikana miners, Miners Shot Down follows the strike from day one, showing the courageous but isolated fight waged by a group of low paid workers against the combined forces of the mining company, Lonmin, the ANC government and their allies in the National Union of Mineworkers. What emerges is collusion at the top, spiraling violence and the country’s first post-colonial massacre. South Africa will never be the same again.
This documentary contains uncensored footage of the violence used against the miners.
(Trailer here)
Please join us for a commemoration for the miners who were murdered at Marikana, and an analysis for what it means for working class struggle in South Africa.
Film showing: Miners Shot Down, by Rehad Desai
Panel Discussion:
The Marikana Commission Report – Richard Chen
The Working Class Upsurge Following Marikana – Gerald Smith
Followed by floor discussion and reports from Bay Area workers struggles