After Marikana: Black life is still worth nothing in South Africa

Ben Fogel considers the context and repercussions of the Marikana massacre, in the wake of the extraordinary decision this week by the South African authorities to charge surviving miners for the murder of their colleagues by police. CeasefireMagazine

Two weeks after the Marikana massacre, the state/capital/police’s narrative of the events that led up to the slaughter of 34 miners on the 16th of August has collapsed. Autopsy reports have confirmed the majority of those killed on that fateful day were shot in the back, contradicting the official narrative largely endorsed by an unquestioning fourth estate – that the police shot the miners in self-defense.