WIN statement on the Lonmin-Marikana massacre*
[Note the emphasis on Lonmin, which is a London-based company that should be picketed!]
The Workers International Network (WIN) sends its condolences to the families of the miners brutally slaughtered in the Lonmin strike. We also express our outrage at this slaughter, which evokes memories of the Sharpeville massacre and similar events. It is clear that this brutal attack was not the act of some rogue police, but was sanctioned at the highest levels. The massacre is the direct responsibility of the ANC government and of the Lonmin bosses. This repression is a direct result of the failure of South African capitalism to provide a decent life for workers there. In order to help maintain the capitalists' profits, the state is repressing the workers' movement. This attack is also the result of the crisis of capitalism world wide.
It is all too common around the world that union leaderships have responded to this crisis by collaborating with the employers. It seems that some in the labor leadership in South Africa are no exception to this. Despite this, the working class from Egypt to China to Greece is organizing and starting to rise up. The South African workers' movement is no exception, and many of us remember the days when the entire world was transfixed by your heroic struggle against apartheid. Today, the working class is more connected around the world than ever before in history. Let us move forward together towards workers' democracy and socialism, that is, a society whose wealth is used for the well-being of all working people.
Workers of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains. We have a world to win.
* This blog is loosely affiliated with WIN. Read the two WIN discussion documents above to find out more.
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