Thematic Lessons from the Marikana Miners’ Strike in South Africa: A Corporate Governance Perspective

Abstract

The Marikana’s miners’ strike began on 10 August with the demand by approximately three thousand rock drillers to have salaries increased from R4 000,00 per month to R12 500,00 per month. These workers walked off the job after Lonmin management failed to meet with workers. A series of violence then followed leading to the massacre that occurred on 16 August when at least thirty six miners were killed and seventy eight wounded by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Following this incident, the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma appointed, in terms of section 84(2)(f) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 a Commission of Inquiry chaired by retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Ian Gordon Farlam. The Commission’s mandate arising from the Terms of Reference promulgated on 12 September 2012 is to investigate matters of public, national and international concern arising out of the tragic incidents at the Lonmin Platinum mine in Marikana. This article examines the Marikana miners’ strike through corporate governance lens. The aim is to extract thematic lessons from a corporate governance perspective.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n2p63