This week marks the 8th anniversary of the so called Marikana Massacre. The stand off between striking platinum miners, private security and the police culminated on 16th August, 2012 in the death of 34 miners. A long and drawn out Commission of Inquiry yielded very little in the way of actionable findings and the entire episode remains a scar in the memories of many.
I had just started work as a radio content producer on a leading drive time show, and it was my first time experiencing such a huge event in a busy newsroom. I learnt a lot that week.
This short piece of just 120 words was written in response to the prompt ‘Platinum’
Photo Credit: Times Live
The miners were uncertain. Tensions were escalating, the unions urging them to stay out, the shift bosses calling them back underground, their wives anxious simply to keep the peace. The employer’s menacing demands to put an end to their unprotected strike resounded in their ears.
They knew the power lay with them for now, but their sense of unease said this would not end well and their conviction began to waver.
The young man, wrapped in his trademark green blanket, emerged as one of their leaders. They took their cue from him and their belief in the cause was reignited. By the end of the next day, green would be streaked red, the blanket’s owner dead, along with 33 others.
