When our news reported the murder of 34 miners at the Markana platinum mine in South Africa several weeks ago they forgot to mention a few other important facts.  Miners had been refusing to go work for a number of weeks demanding higher wages. They work under shocking conditions , earning about $500 a month while I’m told by trusted sources that top executives earn as much as $175k per month. Miners walked out to demonstrate, congregating at the top of a hill outside the mine.

One night they killed six above ground workers who had refused to walk out with them.  They then attacked two policemen in squad cars (African policemen) and hacked them to death.  They mutilated them and cut off certain parts of their bodies to take to a sangoma (witchdoctor), who worked his magic and assured them that the bullets of the police would not hurt them.

The next day hundreds of miners became violent and In the ensuing  fray the police killed 34 miners. As a result, the platinum mine acceded to the miners’ demands to double their wages, but the heads of the gold mines have refused to follow suit.  In the following weeks a spate of strikes have followed across the country. And as of this writing have gotten worse, other mine workers and truckers have stopped work, and several more miners have been killed.

Sunday’s Wall Street Journal  declared SOUTH AFRICA FALTERS AS UNREST SPREADS—AFTER APARTHEID, SOUTH AFRICA LEAVES MANY BLACKS BEHIND.

 

Observation:  The press does not always report both sides of the story – an understatement?

Witchcraft and superstition are still powerful in this 21^st century society.

The unrest is based on economic not racial equality.