BY Thabang Thembani – this post was first published on Tunatazama
The monitoring school team of Nyakallong sat down to discuss the causes and implications of the high unemployment rate in this country, especially in the mine-hosting township called Nyakallong. This conversation was inspired by the recent march that took place in July to Harmony Gold Mine regarding several community concerns such as:
1 The issue of Voelpan is full of highly chemically contaminated water because the toxic water that was discharged by the mine into the pan has caused a traumatic experience for the people of Riverside and Dilounung who are living with this toxic water in their yards, houses and others have lost their homes due to this environmental and health disaster caused by voelpan. The community wanted the mine to take accountability.
2 They wanted the mine to fulfill its social labor plans that benefit the community and engage in employment opportunities since there is a high rate of unemployment in the community. The march was organized by MACUA and community members of Nyakallong. However, instead of the mine engaging with the community, it chose to file an interdict against the likes of Aston Chaole, Councillor Paseka Ramatisa, and other active leaders of the community. This
showed us that capital and gentry don’t care about the voices of the majority poor. We were also reminded, by this conversation that; The democratic values and principles are based upon the people’s first ideology ‘Batho Pele Principles’. The term democracy seems to be counterintuitive to the principles and values of
democracy where the minority gentry controls means of production at the expense of the black majority poor in the lower class.
We can not shy away from the fact that capitalism throughout its historical existence and its current existence has been controlled by greed, this is reflected by slavery and colonialism that stripped the majority poor of their land and dignity. The community member who was part of the march emphasized that freedom was not fought in vain, and it can never be allowed to be undermined by the very same mine owners undermining it. Our fathers were the slaves to this system and we can’t be a continuation of that generational curse. We need to cleanse ourselves as a community . This linked very well with the extension of our conversation where we alluded that class struggles in a democratic society can not be strengthened like this to the point that the majority poor can not experience social upward mobility from poverty lines to better living conditions just because gentry is gatekeeping progress at the top.
Furthermore, we realized that Capitalism’s agenda is to keep the minority wealthy and the poor poorer, that capitalism is selfish, greedy, and inconsiderate and it thrives by silencing the poor and using legal tools to silence the concerned members of the community. Instead of bridging the gap of Historical injustices and current class struggles gaps that exist it deteriorates the living conditions of the poor even further. That is why we concluded that the majority of the poor living in mine-hosting communities should unite and self-determination outside the parameters of the mines.
