‘Community group accuses government of caring more about multinational companies in mining’ 16 August 2022

Mining Affected Communities United in Action (Macua) is accusing the government of caring more about multinational companies than mining communities. Macua is a movement representing communities affected by mining. A group of Macua members and supporters staged a protest outside Parliament to remember the slain Marikana mine workers at the hands of police on 16 August 2012. Macua says its protest is also aimed at seeking justice for neglected mining communities. Protestors held placards calling for among other things, the resignations of President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe as well as the scrapping of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

“Marikana people are mining workers community. We are mining-affected communities and we are remembering people of Marikana who were merely asking for decent salaries and were shot dead. So we are saying we are people facing the very same thing, the mine pollution and contaminated water. They are killing us like Marikana. The government doesn’t care about us but cares about multinational companies. They leave us alone dying, so we are fighting to be recognized,” says National Co-ordination for Macau Meshack Mbangula.