Murder at Small Koppie: The Real Story of the Marikana Massacre

African History and Culture (AHC)

by Greg Marinovich

The killing of thirty-four miners by police at Marikana in August 2012 was the largest massacre of civilians in South Africa since Sharpeville. The events have been covered in newspaper articles, on TV news and in a commission of inquiry, but there is still confusion about what happened on that fateful day.
In Murder at Small Koppie, renowned photojournalist Greg Marinovich explores the truth behind the Marikana massacre. He investigates the shootings near Wonderkop hill, which happened in view of the media, as well as the killings that happened beyond the view of cameras at a nondescript collection of boulders known as Small Koppie, some 300 metres away. Many of the men killed here were shot in cold blood at close range.
Drawing on his own meticulous research, eyewitness accounts and the findings of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, Marinovich accurately reconstructs that fateful day as well as the events leading up to the strike, and looks at the subsequent denials, obfuscation and buck-passing by Lonmin, the SAPS and the government.
This is the definitive account of the Marikana massacre from the journalist whose award-winning investigation into the tragedy has been called the most important piece of South African journalism since apartheid.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2016

Reviews

[Andy – And The Plot Thickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

No single event has come to define post-Apartheid South Africa as much as the killing of 34 mineworkers by police outside a dusty town in the platinum belt of the country's North West province. It took only a couple of minutes to discharge hundreds of bullets, but the blood that seeped into the soil late on the afternoon of 16 August 2012 became a watershed moment that will never be forgotten, for it showed not only South Africans but the world that the country had not left behind its violent past.

The event was the largest massacre of civilians in decades and happened post-apartheid, after the brutal regime that oppressed the black majority was dismantled. And here it was that under a democratic government, the police were once again being used to fight larger battles. We didn't know it at the time of course. I was one of the journalists deployed to Marikana on the morning of the 17th of August. Although the radio station I worked for had had two journalists there the afternoon and evening of the massacre, there was simply too much happening for such a small team to cover all the politicians' visits, press briefings, speaking to witnesses and the wounded and attend to the ongoing protests at other nearby platinum mines.

Going to Marikana changed me and the way I saw the country, and particularly its poor, forever. All I had heard was that violent mineworkers had charged police, who had no option but to open fire. It was clear from the moment I arrived that it was too chaotic for anyone to believe that narrative outright. As days turned into weeks turned into months, the truth was revealed, even while various authorities tried their utmost to obfuscate it.

There were many journalists who did incredible work during this time, but if there is one journalist who did due diligence above all others, it was Greg Marinovich. Marinovich - a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist known for covering the conflict during apartheid's last years - spent an enormous amount of time at the 'koppie' (hill) where the shootings took place and he was the first to reveal that there were not one but two killing scenes, something the police had tried to hide.

Marinovich interviewed witnesses, survivors and family members. He examined evidence led before the Farlam Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate not only the events of the 16th of August but the ten related deaths, including security guards, union officials and police officers, in the lead-up to the mass shooting.

No event occurs in isolation and Marinovich looks at the history of platinum mining in South Africa, in particular, the history of Lonmin, the mine where the wage strike was taking place. He examines the police techniques employed by authorities to disperse striking workers and also looks at the influence two rival mining unions, the historical NUM and its new rival, AMCU, had on the strike and the ensuing violence.

Marinovich does not seek to assign blame to one particular group and he does not seek to protect anyone. The book is not about how either mineworkers or the police were guilty or blameless. Instead, he seeks just to present the facts and show how a confluence of factors became a time-bomb.

While Marinovich's research is meticulous, the book does not fall into that category of current events non-fiction that is mind-numbingly academic or reads like a long newspaper article. Marinovich captures the spirit and feelings of those he interviews, the witnesses to an event that has left a permanent blemish on South Africa's democratic dream. His descriptions of the stark conditions under which Lonmin's mineworkers live and the everyday realities of the South African mineworker paint a moving portrait of the shameful legacy of apartheid and the present disgraces that let this shame continue.

This book will chill, horrify, shame and move its readers. It won Sunday Times Alon Paton Award for non-fiction in 2017 and I have no qualms in naming it one of the most important books about post-apartheid South Africa.

[De Wet · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book for understanding the Marikana massacre and the events leading up to it. Well written with enough background to inform the ignorant reader. The sense of foreboding and imminent disaster is palpable throughout the book and really draws you in.

[George Makubalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greg Marinovich's story of the Marikana tragedy is one that deserved to be told. It tells the story of lowest point of the post-apartheid South Africa where the different factors such as poverty, capital accumulation, politics, violence, and mysticism only lead to one outcome, death - too many deaths. The power of Marinovich's book lies in the great journalistic detail of events which provides greater understanding of what happened at Marikana and its aftermath. The weakness of the book is in its unbalanced treatment of events and actors. The world Marinovich created here is a world of villains and innocents. There are no grey areas or complexity. The miners were the innocents in this bloody game where the none of the people representing LONMIN, the unionists (specifically the NUM unionists), the police, or the ruling the ANC escape Marinovich's excoriating focus. But despite this weakness Marinovich's book is a riveting page turner that will keep you engrossed till the very end.

[Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sobering view of the realities of life as a miner and how these workers can be exploited. The agenda of Police aligning with the mining companies as a premeditated plan to kill the strike leaders.
Naturally corruption, cutting corners and abuse of power ultimately ends with nothing changing except the emergence of a new even more radically left polical party.

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and thorough look at the Marikana massacre and all of the factors that led to the occurrence thereof. The book makes especially clear how different parties had conflicting agendas and failed to properly engage with each other with a view towards constructively resolving the miners' grievances.

This book should be recommended reading for all South Africans.

[Xolani · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost as saddening the events of those days of August 2012 were, one must point out the amazing investigative journalism thoroughly done by Greg Marinovich. Kudos to him 👏 I wish most South Africans and Africans as a whole if not Global-audience to put their hands on this book, the truth needs to be spread and made known.

[Tiara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd give this six stars if I could. One of the bravest, rigorous, most important and unflinchingly dedicated exposés in post-democratic SA. Marinovich manages to extract himself entirely from the story, which I appreciated in this age of extreme self-involvement.

[Mangaliso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative book and covers all the areas of the strike, from political to labour issues.

[Ingrid Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading