South African government frees remaining imprisoned Marikana miners

The South African government has responded to public outcry and freed the last few Marikana miners that were being held in prison. The miners have been released due to backlash from citizens across the nation, reports The BBC.The miners were involved in the violent protests at the Marikana platinum mine owned by Lonmin. The incident ended in police shooting 34 people dead at the protest. Investigations into the shooting are ongoing.Two labour unions are involved in the protests which revolve around pay demands. One is the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Acmu) is known to be militant, while The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is known to be affiliated with the African National Congress (ANC).Over the past weeks a peace accord has been brokered by church officials which was signed by the NUM. The Acmu however has refused to sign any accord or put a stop to their protests until their pay demands are met.Most analysts believe that, due to the militant nature of the Acmu, the other union signing the peace accord will not make much of a difference.A prominent South African activist, Julius Malema, has been calling for workers to stay strong and stand up for their rights. According to the BBC, Malema was ousted from the ANC earlier this year for indiscipline. He is a staunch supporter for nationalism and has been quoted as calling for South African miners to make the mines “Ungovernable.”Malema maintains that he was in no way calling for violence. The BBC reports that his stance is that he feels foreign corporations have been controlling Africa’s resources for too long. He is calling for the South African government to take control of its own mines with a privatized mining company.
It is believed that Malema is vying for the support of the lower class in hopes of destabilizing Mr. Zuma’s leadership of the ANC at the next leadership conference in order to win his way back into the party.In an interview with The BBC Malema claims that the ANC has become “hijacked by a group of thugs” claiming that the leadership is only looking out for itself.