Thirsty Crow
29th January 2013, 19:15
http://www.libcom.org/news/british-tv-news-airs-footage-refuting-south-african-police-claims-about-murdered-marikana-m
The single most bloody repression of workers' struggle of the year sees mounting evidence:
This footage somewhat predictably wasnt brought to our attention by the local media, who have long since moved on to other things since the Marikana story stopped selling. Rather, it was Channel 4 in the United Kingdom who brought this footage to light...
The highly disturbing footage shows police moving around, taking potshots, joking about killings and even boasting about shooting one motherfucker ten times, despite the easily ignored plea of one officer to not shoot the bastard. It shows numerous corpses around the area with police idly watching over, while the wounded writhe in agony.
It gives us a first person perspective of the shooter with the cellphone showing us the gun of the person filming it, as if it was a video game or a action movie. It blurs the line between the hyper-reality of a video game and the grotesque of a snuff film.
One scene shows two workers attempting to wriggle away from the police, a hopeless attempt as the police are standing around them, looking somewhat amused at their desperation. The polices tone, although barely audible, is gung-ho, exhilarated at the possibility of finally unleashing their pent-up rage at the bastards.
The response of the chief of police testifies to the kind of open and murderous reaction is developing within the state built on the struggle against white supremacism and racism:
Police chief Riah Phiyegas comments (http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Phiyega-footage-shown-at-Marikana-hearing-20130122) are highly revealing, to say the least: All we did was our job, and to do it in the manner we were trained. And to further illustrate how their police accomplished their job so well: Whatever happened represents the best of responsible policing. You did what you did because you were being responsible. You were making sure that you continue to live your oath.
This is a whole new level. It is actually disgusting in a near physical sense for me.
And finally, the concessions by the mining industry never came to anything:
In the meanwhile, the story of Marikana continues. Most workers at Lonmins platinum mines apparently have not received their promised 22% raise and there are numerous reports of disappearances and continued intimidation with many workers having simply disappeared and remaining unaccounted for.
And why would they, after all, when all the glory and might of the state has secured them their due.
The single most bloody repression of workers' struggle of the year sees mounting evidence:
This footage somewhat predictably wasnt brought to our attention by the local media, who have long since moved on to other things since the Marikana story stopped selling. Rather, it was Channel 4 in the United Kingdom who brought this footage to light...
The highly disturbing footage shows police moving around, taking potshots, joking about killings and even boasting about shooting one motherfucker ten times, despite the easily ignored plea of one officer to not shoot the bastard. It shows numerous corpses around the area with police idly watching over, while the wounded writhe in agony.
It gives us a first person perspective of the shooter with the cellphone showing us the gun of the person filming it, as if it was a video game or a action movie. It blurs the line between the hyper-reality of a video game and the grotesque of a snuff film.
One scene shows two workers attempting to wriggle away from the police, a hopeless attempt as the police are standing around them, looking somewhat amused at their desperation. The polices tone, although barely audible, is gung-ho, exhilarated at the possibility of finally unleashing their pent-up rage at the bastards.
The response of the chief of police testifies to the kind of open and murderous reaction is developing within the state built on the struggle against white supremacism and racism:
Police chief Riah Phiyegas comments (http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Phiyega-footage-shown-at-Marikana-hearing-20130122) are highly revealing, to say the least: All we did was our job, and to do it in the manner we were trained. And to further illustrate how their police accomplished their job so well: Whatever happened represents the best of responsible policing. You did what you did because you were being responsible. You were making sure that you continue to live your oath.
This is a whole new level. It is actually disgusting in a near physical sense for me.
And finally, the concessions by the mining industry never came to anything:
In the meanwhile, the story of Marikana continues. Most workers at Lonmins platinum mines apparently have not received their promised 22% raise and there are numerous reports of disappearances and continued intimidation with many workers having simply disappeared and remaining unaccounted for.
And why would they, after all, when all the glory and might of the state has secured them their due.