The Marikana strike: the origins of a living wage demand and changing forms of worker struggles in Lonmin platinum mine, South Africa

Abstract: On 16 August 2012, 34 mineworkers were gunned down by police during strike action in Marikana, South Africa, where Lonmin, the third largest platinum mining company in the world, is located. This has been termed the Marikana massacre, described as a turning point in South African history. Drawing from original ethnographic research, the article highlights the origins of the now infamous living wage demand of R12,500 South African (or about USD$500) per month which was more than twice the average worker’s salary at the time. Its origins, which can be traced back to two specific workers, did not involve violence or interunion rivalry, nor were its initiators militant or uncompromising as has been suggested elsewhere. The article argues that the idea of violent solidarity and the assertion that workers were motivated by inter-union rivalry, obscure the independent nature of workers’ resistance and the way in which it was transformed over time. The empirical evidence presented below also indicates that, on the evening which followed the massacre, workers held a small meeting and took a resolution that they would continue the strike in order that their slain colleagues would not have died in vain