North West - Activists protesting at Nkaneng in Wonderkop near Rustenburg have called for counselling for Lonmin miners who saw co-workers being shot dead.
“There is a need for counselling these people, they are not right,” said Peter Makena, a member of the Marikana Support Campaign.
He said mineworkers lived in fear because of the August 16
shooting that left 34 miners dead and 78 wounded, when police tried to disperse strikers at the platinum mine in Marikana.
“They saw their friends, brothers and fathers falling dead in front of them; they need to be counselled for them not to have flashbacks of the incident,” said Makena.
“We appeal to the authorities to provide them with counselling in three days from now.”
Members of the Marikana Support Campaign protested outside Wonderkop stadium near the mine, singing and waving placards, calling for the police to be prosecuted.
“Do not let the police get away with murder,” read several posters.
Another said: “Re eme mona ga re tsitsinyege, re ba tla nnete fela” Äloosely translated: “We are standing here, we are not moving, we want the truth.”
They followed an in loco (place) inspection to the local hospital.
The inspection is being conducted by a judicial commission appointed to investigate the August killings at the mine in North West. - Sapa