Marikana Massacre Case Study

Introduction
The aim and the purpose of this assignment is to show some factors involved when it comes to location decision and the impact the marikana massacre had on the country’s economy which took place three years back were workers were being exploited which led to a violent strike which many lives were lost.

Background
Marikana is located near Rustenburg it produces minerals, it was commissioned at the end of 2002 with an investment of R63million, it also lies in the heart of the country’s platinum belt in South Africa it is overly dependent on the export of the country’s rich deposits mined by labour drawn from extensive migrant labour system. The mine is jointly owned by Anglo American and Anglo American Platinum under an
Miners go into the mine happy and come out angry because violence brews in mines, lately mines had become not only a source of capital but as institutions of violence were human rights are being abused the tragedy has left Africa’s wealthiest economy anxious for peace and equilibrium to be restored.at the same time concerns had been raised about the role of labour unions played in the days leading up to the Marikana shooting with strong evidence that they didn’t do enough to quell the violence. Former Congress of South Africa Trade unions general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said “Unions had a basic function to communicate issues between the workers and the employers but this became a problem in 2012, there was a gap and the reason for the strike broke out it’s because there was a genuine grievance from the mineworkers who felt
Disputes should be settled efficiently and effectively to avoid conflict and industrial action that would have adverse economic consequences. Trade unions should have ensured that workers demands are justifiable and within reason also that workers right are not infringed in any way changes in working conditions and wages should be sustainable and should not be a financial burden to business.at the same time unions should acknowledge that there is an inherent conflict of interest labour and capital that can never be completely eroded workers want higher wages and owners higher profit it is the role of trade unions to facilitate a balanced consensus for parties involved. Although the marikana massacre is now history the memory and scars linger on. This experience has afforded the government, labour and business an opportunity to learn from the mistakes and strive for better industrial and employee’s relations. Transformation of the mining industry is necessary to improve working and living conditions if causes leading up to the events are not decisively dealt with sadly this may not be the last we see of such events and this may just be the dreaded