The labor unrest surrounding South African gold and platinum mining is continuing to spread as accusations about who is responsible fly in all directions and international pressure against the ruling regime expands over the accelerating genocide of white farmers. Security officials and military forces raided miner shanty towns over the weekend to confiscate weapons from strikers, but the chaos is still spreading.
At least a thousand soldiers have been deployed to support the embattled police force as the ruling African National Congress (ANC) regime and its communist partners seek to blame business for the tensions. Observers even within South Africa’s ruling alliance, however, say the unrest is being carefully orchestrated by power-hungry elements within the communist-backed ANC itself.
Politicians and aspiring powerbrokers seized on the escalating crisis — multiple gold and platinum mines are currently idle because of the ongoing strikes — to whip up hysteria for political purposes, analysts said. The ruling alliance consisting of the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP), and the Conference of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) implausibly claimed after an inquiry that mining companies were to blame for the chaos.
“It is therefore our considered view that employers have an interest in fanning this conflict to reverse the gains achieved by workers over a long period of time,” the ruling alliance alleged in a statement. It also accused South African platinum industry heavyweights of following “the story of the power and belief in divide and rule” — tactics long employed by the current totalitarian-minded rulers of South Africa and other communist regimes.
According to the ruling alliance, the mining businesses were deliberately stirring up union rivalries to suppress wages and benefits. However, credible analysts largely rejected the allegations as preposterous; the firms in question have already lost huge amounts of money as many of their mines remain shut down because of the strikes. Stock prices have plunged, too.
Meanwhile, multiple communist agitators within and outside the ANC have renewed their calls to nationalize the mines. Marxist agitator and former ANC Youth League boss Julius Malema, famous for inciting genocide against white South Africans and demanding that the regime nationalize virtually the entire economy, has inserted himself at the center of the growing unrest. He is calling for nationwide strikes and the nationalization of the nation’s mining industry.
After being expelled from the ANC earlier this year, the suspiciously wealthy communist racist has started to attack South African President Jacob Zuma, a polygamist and open communist who regularly sings the infamous hate song calling for the extermination of whites. “How can he call on people to mourn those he has killed? He must step down,” Malema said after strikers were killed by police last month, apparently upset that Zuma had not sunk South Africa into total communist tyranny quickly enough.
But even top officials within the ruling alliance are suspicious about what is going on. According to COSATU President Sdumo Dlamini, Malema supporters within the ANC are hoping to plunge South Africa into deeper chaos to solidify their power. “We also understand that there have been certain individuals behind him who are funding this for their own political ambitions,” Dlamini said. “Julius Malema may be the point person running at the front, but we know that there are big guns behind him.” And big money, too.
Dlamini said COSATU was “very angry” that unsuspecting mine workers were being used by opportunists, sometimes even being killed in the process. “This is a systematic, orchestrated, long-time plan that is unfolding now,” he added. “The ANC as the ruling party shouldn’t be afraid to be bold, condemn and expose … the ANC must continue to identify and deal with those who fund this chaos.”
Communists, of course, have historically been known to create the superficial impression of internal division to further their agenda while collaborating together behind the scenes — the use of strategic disinformation. However, it remains unclear what, if anything, may be going on outside of the limelight between the ANC, the SACP, and other totalitarian forces working to crush individual liberty and all resistance within South Africa.
Other analysts have attributed the expanding labor unrest to widely different causes, ranging from anger over the ANC regime’s lawless corruption to genuine grievances about dangerous working conditions and low pay at the mines. Tribal tensions have also been cited as playing a role, though just how large a role is difficult to determine. But many experts still see something more sinister: deliberate agitation led by shrewd power seekers hoping to exploit the crisis for political gain.
Numerous observers have attributed the violent tensions to rivalries between the ANC-linked National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which is the largest member of COSATU, and its increasingly influential rival known as the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU). Some experts said the crackdown on protests was an effort to quash the AMCU before it further splintered workers’ support for the ruling alliance.
Critics have accused the AMCU, which touts itself as anti-communist and has long criticized the established powerbrokers for corruption, of fomenting the unrest. The South African Communist Party even called for AMCU leaders to be arrested after the incident, and among the ruling communist establishment, fears about the renegade union are reportedly growing.
The chaos has been ongoing since early this year, but it exploded and entered into the international headlines a month ago after dozens of striking miners were killed in what has since been dubbed the “Marikana massacre.” Police were reportedly fired upon by armed demonstrators before returning fire, killing more than 30 people.
Before the fatal police shootings that catapulted the strike into the global press, frenzied strikers demanding massive pay hikes had gone on a murderous rampage. Two police officers were hacked to death with machetes and two security guards were burned alive. At least six others were killed. Strikers threatened to murder anybody who returned to work.
“The militant group stormed toward the police firing shots and wielding dangerous weapons,” claimed South African Police Commissioner Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega. Reporters present at the scene largely echoed those claims, alleging that at least one person had fired at the hundreds of police officers at the demonstration.
Over the weekend, swarms of police and military personnel raided workers’ shacks near the troubled Marikana platinum mine operated by London-based Lonmin. Security forces used rubber bullets and other non-lethal weapons, arresting more than a dozen people. According to news reports, the operation was aimed at seizing the crude weapons used by strikers — machetes, clubs, spears, and more.
“The soldiers were deployed at the request of the police to support them in their operation,” South African National Defense Force (SANDF) spokesman Brigadier General Xolani Mabanga was quoted as saying. Military vehicles and an army helicopter were also on hand during the raid to support the hundreds of police officers involved.
Top government officials — many of whom have personal stakes in the situation including shares in the mining firms — have vowed to crack down on the strikes. Proud communist revolutionary Jeff Radebe, the “Justice Minister” in the ANC regime, said at a September 14 press conference that authorities were intervening because the mining industry is crucial to South Africa’s crumbling economy.
“The South African government has noted and is deeply concerned by the amount of violence, threats and intimidation that is currently taking place in our country,” he told reporters, warning that anyone taking part in “illegal gatherings” would be “dealt with” very swiftly. “Our government will not tolerate these acts any further.”
Critics of the response, however, warned that the raids and use of force would likely contribute to further unrest. “I am particularly concerned that government’s present action will in fact lead to the worsening of the situation and eventually to a complete revolt across the platinum belt,” said a statement by Anglican Bishop Jo Seoka, who also serves as president of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and is involved in the strike negotiations. He criticized the government and Lonmin as well.
The growing unrest comes amid increasing international pressure on the ANC regime after the non-profit group Genocide Watch raised its alert level on South Africa last month to stage six — planning and preparing to exterminate the target group, in this case, white South Africans and especially Afrikaner farmers. The eighth and final stage is denial after the fact.
According to the organization and other human rights activists, white South African farmers are facing a well-organized genocidal onslaught as communist forces seek to cement their control over the once-prosperous nation. The ANC Youth League, formerly led by Malema, has reportedly been deeply involved in the planning and execution of the genocide.
A newly formed group of human rights activists and South African exiles known as Friends 4 Humanity told The New American that the number of racist attacks and murders against Afrikaner farmers has surged dramatically amid the labor unrest. There have been at least 30 documented attacks in the last two weeks — many resulting in multiple murders.
“Since the beginning of 2012 we have noticed that murders increased to approximately one every second day, with some victims, as young as 6 months. However, since the start of the mining unrest it has now escalated to as much at least one attack a day with multiple fatal victims,” a spokesperson for the group said. “A call for urgent intervention is now required from the international community.”
Despite the genocide alert and growing unrest, socialist and communist-minded political parties from around the world gathered in Cape Town for the 24th Congress of the Socialist International in late August and early September. The immensely powerful coalition of socialists consists of numerous ruling political parties including many from the developed world. They called for global governance and world socialism.
Photo of Julius Malema speaking to a crowd of striking miners at Goldfields Mine in Grootfontein, South Africa: AP Images
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