There was a huge march by miners on Wednesday
South African activist Julius Malema says mineworkers must put down tools until wage demands are met, amid a deadly dispute at a platinum mine.
Mr Malema is set to march with workers later at the Marikana mine where police shot dead 34 people last month. The march is due to coincide with the release of more miners who were controversially charged with murder.
The union involved in the conflict has refused to sign a peace accord with mine owner Lonmin and the government.
The National Union of Mineworkers (Num), which is allied to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, signed the accord.
It commits miners to return to work on Monday, ending a strike that started on 10 August.
They vowed to intensify their strike action by confronting those who report for duty.
They say they will not return to talks until the topic of wages is on the table.
Lonmin said the deal "lays a firm foundation for the beginnings of the elimination of violence and intimidation".
The company is the world's third biggest producer of platinum, most of which comes from Marikana.
'Group of thugs'
Such rhetoric was used by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party when it was fighting to overthrow the white minority regime.
Now Mr Malema - expelled from the ANC earlier this year after a series of disagreements with Mr Zuma - is using it to galvanise support among poor people.
His objective is to oust Mr Zuma as ANC leader at its conference in December, and to be readmitted into the party.
Mr Malema is not actually advocating communist-style nationalisation in South Africa. Instead, he wants a state-owned mining company to be formed and to enter into joint ventures with private firms - a successful model in neighbouring Botswana.
Mr Malema's critics believe his main backers are black businessmen who have tied their fortunes to his political career. They say he will eventually sink into political oblivion, just like others who were expelled by the ANC.
But Mr Malema's allies believe he will be back in the ANC in December and Mr Zuma on his way out.
Mr Malema, who was expelled from the governing African National Congress earlier this year for indiscipline, had earlier called for striking workers to make the mines ungovernable, but he told the BBC's Newsday programme that he was not calling for violence.
"People are just being sensational about the word 'ungovernable'. I mean, they must put down their tools. I'm not calling for violence. I'm not calling for killing of anybody," he said."Workers must refuse to sell their labour. Enough is enough, unless capital is prepared to pay enough living wage."
Earlier the South African government said it would not tolerate any incitement to violence or what it called unwarranted provocation.
Mr Malema said foreign investors had "stolen everything in this country - we are prepared to do everything to get back what belongs to us".
He said the only answer was nationalisation of the mines.
"Let's take our resources. Let's pay mineworkers. Let's build schools for our children. We do not call for wholesale nationalisation - we call for a majority sharehold by the state, with the participation of the private sector," he added.
Mr Malema, the former head of the ANC Youth League, was a close ally of President Jacob Zuma but the pair have fallen out over a number of issues.
Mr Malema has accused the president of ignoring the plight of poor black South Africans since he came to power in 2009.
In the BBC interview, he also delivered a warning to the ANC, saying it had been "hijacked by a group of thugs - there for themselves and their families".
He said he would "take it back into its rightful place - the hands of the people".
His critics say he has been "walking on the bodies" of those killed in Marikana to reignite his political career.
No comments:
Post a Comment