Zapiro's Blog, page 62

120826st

LONMIN mine tragedy: The Farlam Inquiry into the Truth

President Jacob Zuma has appointed retired Judge Ian Farlam to head the Commission of Inquiry into the truth behind the LONMIN mine tragedy. The Commission will not only  look into the specific events on the day of the massacre, but will look more broadly into the role played by Lonmin, NUM, AMCU, the department of mineral resources or any other government department or agency and the “conduct of individuals and loose groupings in fomenting and/or promoting a situation of conflict in this event. While all parties welcomed the Farlam Commission, Zapiro's cartoon suggests that Mine owners, Lonmin, the rival unions NUM and AMCU, the various government minsiteries and the top police brass will not necessarily like the outcome.

 

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120823mg

Memorial Service Rivalry

After church leaders had urged people not to use the memorial service for 34 striking miners killed by police, to score political points,  Julius Malema hijacked the main memorial service by setting up an alternate memorial service in a tent and a stage tent  paid for by an organisation which supports Malema – the Friends of the Youth League. Malema  accused Zuma's government of complicity in the shootings. Malema said “Our government has become a pig that is eating its children" He was applauded when he said the government had not intervened in the mines “because our leaders are involved in these mines.” He said that President Zuma's foundation and other ANC leaders have shares in the mines. All of this took place in front of senior Cabinet ministers, while the stage which would apparently be used for government’s memorial service stood unused. Zapiro's cartoon show how  the service  degenerated into a free-for-all, with government ministers being forced to leave.

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120823tt

Lonmin (Marikana tragedy) - The Anti-Blame Game

Zapiro's cartoon shows an anti-Blame muti being dished out to the Police brass, Lonmin bosses, Police minister, the Unions (NUM and AMCU), Shabangu and Zuma. Nevertheless blame for the massacre at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, where 34 miners were gunned down by police on August 16, has been divided among all of those concerned the strikers, the police, management, unions, the government et al. It all started when about 3,000 rock drill operators launched an illegal strike on August 10 that quickly turned violent. Ten men, including two police, were killed in clashes between rival unions during the week leading to the police crackdown. When police were called in, the strikers armed themselves with spears, machetes and clubs. Police and some witnesses say they also fired guns at the security forces. The police arrived at the scene without crowd control gear like riot shields or helmets. They fired teargas, rubber bullets, stun grenades and water cannons, but when those tactics failed, they had assault rifles with live ammunition, which they fired when they believed their lives were in danger. Police chief Riah Phiyega has stood by her men, saying at a funeral: "Don't be sorry about what happened." Lonmin, the world's third-largest platinum miner, says it has yet to receive any demands from the strikers -- whose stayaway has been ruled illegal. But nor has Lonmin held talks with the strikers. In the days leading to the crackdown, the company welcomed the police role in dealing with the security issues, rather than looking at the social conflicts. The main union at the mine, the National Union of Mineworkers, belongs to the powerful COSATU labour federation and is a key ally of the ruling African National Congress. But some workers feel NUM no longer represents them. The Marikana strike was spearheaded by the radical new Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which is accused of using violent tactics to press its demands.  South African President Jacob Zuma's government has come under fire for failing to see the warning signs and preventing the violence. No minister met with the players at Marikana ahead of the shooting, creating the impression that the government was taken by surprise and unable to react.

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120821tt

Julius Malema: Opportunism Best Practices

Julius Malema is a confirmed opportunist, well-known for his inconsistency and his lack of morality. Zapiro's cartoon shows him with his "Breitling" watch and his "Gucci" shoes.walking over the dead miners killed by shots from the police. Malema wasted no time to address the the miners at the LONMIN mine exploiting the tensions among the workers themselves and their conflict with the owners. He told them exactly what they had wanted to hear that they are victims of a vicious company, conniving unions and uncaring politicians. Malema, a politician expelled by the ruling ANC top brass, was the first politician to address the miners at the site during a more than weeklong saga in which 10 people were killed before Thursday's shootings — including two police officers butchered to death and two mine security guards whom strikers burned alive in their vehicle. He said he had come because the government had turned its back on the strikers. Malema said "They had no right to shoot."

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120819st

No difference between Lonmin tragedy of 2012 and the Sharpville tragedy of 1960

The killing of 34 and wounding of 78 strikers by police at a South African platinum mine is a tragedy for the entire country and brings back memories of the apartheid era. There is little difference  of what  has happened iat the Lonmin Marikana of 16 August 2012 when the police open fire on the crowd of black protesters killing more 30 people, to the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville township massacre  , when apartheid police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters, killing more than 50 people. South African riot police opened fire on striking miners armed with machetes and sticks at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine, killing 34 men in the deadliest episode of a week of union violence. Heavily armed officers backed by armored vehicles were laying out barbed wire barricades when they were outflanked by some of the estimated 3,000 miners massed on a rocky outcrop near the mine. Police opened fire with automatic weapons on a group of men who burst out from behind a vehicle. Lonmin's flagship platinum plant, which was forced to shut down  because of the union unrest. 

 

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120816mg

Uncle Trevor wants you for the NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Zapiro's cartoon shows the two faces of the ANC.

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120816tt

The Sick State of Gauteng Hospitals

Doctors at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital - one of South Africa's foremost public health institutions - are being forced to risk patients' lives.

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120814tt

Limpopo : The exception that proves the rule

Zapiro's cartoon shows the exception that proves the rule in Limpopo province. The exception being Caster Semenya, South Africa's Olympic silver medal winner and world champion in 2009. The rule being the non-delivery of essentail textbooks to schools in Limpopo province.

 

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120812st

ANC Torch finally arrives in Limpopo

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above

120809mg

Under construction Zumaville

According to a report by the Mail & Guardian, ehe government is planning a new R2-billion town 3kms from  President Zuma's home village of Nkandla.  Half of it will be funded by the taxpayers. The “Zumaville” plans could plague the ANC leader as  the party heats up in the run-up to the party’s elective conference in Mangaung in December.

© 2012 Zapiro / www.zapiro.com (All rights reserved)

To order your free Zapiro cartoon image click on number above