The Lonmin Shooting
August 16, 2012 by Phathu
The Lonmin shooting: misinformation and over sensationalism of social media
By Phathu Makwarela
When a tragedy happens in society, we all look for someone to blame, be it an individual or an organization. In the midst of our anger and confusion, we suspend our ability to make a clear judgement as we want to satisfy our rage and thirst for retribution. The truth gets lost in the midst of all the chaos and commotion. When James Eagan Holmes opened fire at Aurora’s Century movie theatre and killed 12 people, injuring 58 on 20 July this year, rage swept through America as everyone blamed the gun control laws, not the gunman.
Thursday afternoon, a national tragedy happened in Lonmin. A yet “unconfirmed” number of miners were killed when police officers opened fire. I use the words “unconfirmed” because there have just been too many numbers thrown around to feed the hysteria.
On twitter, South Africans were up in arms, anger and blame was directed at the police officers. It was marked as the worst police brutality in years.
Twitter thrives in miscommunication and misinformation; producing a huge uproar generated by mere sound-bites of what actually happened, and not the truth.
Before we vilify the police, let’s get some of the facts:
According to Aljazeera Network and Reuters News Agency, the most credible sources of news, the strike started on 10 August, over pay disputes. On Sunday, the miners KILLED two security guards. On Monday the miners KILLED two other miners and two police officers. You can see the miners are not the victims that retweets have made them out to be.
On Monday the police retaliated by opening fire and killing three miners. If you were relying on social media, these are some of the facts one could have missed – you end up with stirred up emotions and rage towards police officers, but without facts.
For instance, a few days ago TV presenter Kuli Roberts retweeted a tweet about the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher – the iron lady is very much alive.
By Phathu Makwarela
NQOBILENNN on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 12:29 am
SA stays losing on the labour front shem, all this nonsense and loss of life because of a phuqen pay dispute. Ngapha KFC is firing employees for bringing their own lunch 2 work instead of eating the 2 pieces of chicken provided for them daily. Kwanzima.
Lela on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 4:15 am
Since social media people don’t read n use their own minds anymore they just go with the flow. I’m that one person that will continue to have ma own opinion shem. What u say here is what i was sayin on FB. People just want to gaan aan nje kowing nothing about what has really transpired.
lamarOdom on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 4:36 am
This reminds me of a picture of the president’s village eNkandla that was on the Mail and guardian two weeks ago. I have been to Zuma’s village, was there two month ago and what is in tha pic is a lie. They took all the nice houses and community halls that are very far apart (from different villages in Nkandla) and put them in one picture. That is so misleading to someone who has never been there
xhamela on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 4:45 am
Is it fair kodwa that year on year fellow SAns have to resort to such tactics to get what’s rightfully theirs?
Bade babulalane, amadoda eshota kakade!
lwandie on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 5:27 am
Well said Phathu,
Nothing in that machette-knobkerrie carrying crowd shown on Al Jazeera network suggested peaceful demonstrations…this had nothing to do with black on black violence etc as some rife opinions seem to be suggesting,
……policemen have a duty to carry out and part of those duties are to curb lawlessness,…that crowd was attacking and on the offensive and I can say without a doubt that if I was a policeman, faced with the same situation I would have fired shots to bring the situation under control and ensure that I return to the ones I love alive and not a victim of sensless attacks .
Babyluv on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 7:59 am
I for one actually congratulate the police on a job well done, those miners werent victims, they are murderers. If you watch the video carefully you will see them running towards the police carrying those pangas and knobkerries. So its either kill or be killed, survival of the fittest (sp). I hope they do the same things to the protesters in khayelitsha
Patrache on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 8:40 am
Babyluv, not in Khayelitsha, the ANCYL would make Western Cape “un-gha-van-abul, because Helen Zilla is killing our peephul”.
I am sure cops miss Bheki Cele, cause he would have a proper response for all this. It’s sad but we still have a long way to go as a nation, can’t we sit and talk about it?
shybear on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 8:56 am
In this country mos often than not pple symphathise with criminals rather than police. policemen die all the tym n we neva hear 2much noise, bt when they shoot at criminals they same nation that complains abt high levels of crime cries ‘police brutality’ Fact: S.A do not respect the police or the law for that matter. even the Tatane(may his soul RIP) story i still dnt understan how he came into physical contact with the police coz there was that yellow barrier tape that which if you jump it means you are attacking the police. y r they given guns if they cant use them to protect themselves when they feel they r in danger? I knw our saps is not perfect n the do mistakes sumtyms, but those pple die everyday shem we cant expect them to be lenient all the tym
popeye on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 9:04 am
Very true Phatu nami in this situation I would definitly shoot to kill.
Ophezulu on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 9:32 am
I was enjoying your analysis until I reached this line,
“According to Aljazeera Network and Reuters News Agency, the most credible sources of news”
relying on international news agencies on a story that happened in your own backyard is like agreeing with Jennifer Hudson to play Winnie Mandela.
No wonder these mining bosses have the audacity of paying our people R4000.00 a month, we don’t take ourselves seriously.
Monei on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 9:34 am
What? ppl thort it was police brutality?! kanjani? this crowd’s bn camping on that hilltop armed the whole time and with part-time murdering. i wud also respond if they came charging with pangas and alles towards me.
nna, i wud just like to understand what we are missing coz this is clearly not a normal strike. they cnt really expect the mine to agree to R12500 pm per miner from R4k. what else r they striking for?
Vesa on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 9:42 am
Ophezulu…..our very own news agencies censored the news, and potrayed the miners as victims of police brutality whereas the police were only protecting themselves from criminals maquerading as striking miners.
Why was their focus on the police in the first place, cause they are striking for pay rise?
Twitter thrives in miscommunication and misinformation; producing a huge uproar generated by mere sound-bites of what actually happened, and not the truth.
So true!!!!
Hillary on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 10:02 am
Hi jc family,could I please get a copy of 50 shades,pretty please my email address is hilda.letsoalo@gmail.com thanking u in advance
Ms.Zie on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 10:19 am
Why is the font on the comments BOLD?! Or is it my PC.
Buhlebonga on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 10:33 am
@Ophezulu
“”I was enjoying your analysis until I reached this line,
“According to Aljazeera Network and Reuters News Agency, the most credible sources of news”
relying on international news agencies on a story that happened in your own backyard is like agreeing with Jennifer Hudson to play Winnie Mandela.”"
Maybe you’re not familiar with the media landscape of this country. How many newspapers actually had people on the ground at Lonmin? Check the papers, most of the copy used was from SAPA. So Phathu is right because unfortunately few if any of our journos actually went there.
lamarOdom on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 10:35 am
Hillary unesibindi asking for that book la. Hamboyithenga
bongi on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 11:00 am
@ lamarOdom lol..why usithi unesibindi?..#dead and buried..
zenzybear on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 11:25 am
lmao lamar
cherries on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 12:36 pm
Hahaha, funny how I was also thinking the same Lamar, this is just not the post for such*goes back to reading 50 shades darker*…
Bonnz on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 1:51 pm
The KFC comment though….#dirth! lol
On a serious note, twitter is a H.A.M (hot azz mess)!
MissGalaxy on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 5:18 pm
Thank you Phathu, shybear…I concur. I blame the blady CEO’s who take home millions every month while their labour take home a measly 4000…like what the hell are you doing with millions in a month while a breadwinner has to feed a family of 4-10 ka R4000? can the rich please answer me. This really is appalling:(
@JohneighGALAXY™ on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 6:19 pm
@MissGALAXY: The Fucken so-called GIBS/Harvard educated leaders wouldn’t last 5 minutes underground doing what those underpaid, systematically exploited workers do on a weekly basis. I challenge the CEO of LonMin to do what these Men are doing for a month…
Smiles on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 7:06 pm
Sorry Shybear I disagree with you on the Tatane case. You cannot tell me that more than five police officers failed to subdue a single unarmed protestor, whether he was unruly or not.
Anyway moving on. I did see the mineworkers charging at the police officers. The police did what they had to do, but it was still shocking to see people being mowed down like that. Phela that wasn’t a movie.
@JohneighGALAXY™ on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 7:30 pm
@Smiles: The protesters were running away from the teargas that had been thrown at them. They weren’t charging ahead at the police, but trying to escape the fumes of the teargas. The police miscalculated the situation and fired live ammunition. The people running towards the police weren’t armed at all. A misjudgement of the situation caused the killing.
lala on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 7:49 pm
I have been saying the same thing, the police were left with no chance but to start shooing at the miners, and what I witnessed from the enews and Reuters footage is that it seems the miners were attacking the police. The police ddnt start firing at them until they were very close and they recoverd a gun from the miners. Now what I want to understand from South Africa is that should the police protect themselves with rubber bullet while the miners had guns, spears etc ? It was sad but the police had no choice
Smiles on Fri, 17th Aug 2012 9:35 pm
@JG after that enews reviews from those 3 camera angles, it actually does seem like the miners where running away from the teargas and stun grenades shot at them.
Its a great tragedy then if those miners died from such a miscalculation.
Nandisile on Sat, 18th Aug 2012 11:37 pm
Miners and police are just the blacks at the bottom of the ladder.
Ceo of lonmin making R24 MILLION incl benefits, a YEAR. This is a British co. Making billions with our platinum. If mining co’s were paying their employees a liveable wage, it would not have gotten to this pt.
Tired of blacks being exploited. Police also to an extent used as pawns to protect white capital. When does it end? When will we control our country?
Smiles on Mon, 20th Aug 2012 2:38 am
Appearantly the first people who died, the 2 security guards & the 6 miners, who died before the police shot those other miners had some of their body parts especially on the faces mitulated. I hope those weren’t muti killings because there was a mysterious sangoma on the hill doing rituals on the day those other miners got shot. Appearantly also tribalism has also played a part in the union wars. We prayed against these curses yesterday in Church. We can’t have our people dying because if evil things. There’s more to this than meets the eye. Lonmin owners also failed to rectify the situation, thinking the unions would sort it out themselves and as we know, that backfired badly.
Mokgethwa TheChosenOne on Mon, 20th Aug 2012 10:14 am
@JG really now, which one is worse the gun or teargas? the miners were charging towards the police, they were not surrounded so why when sprayed with teargas they ran towards armed men instead of the other directions
Leungo on Mon, 20th Aug 2012 2:42 pm
It’s amazing how there was no outrage last week when these miners (that are now being potrayed as victims) went on a killing spree and hacking 12 people to death.
Now that they are also being given the same treatment SA is up in arms? I am one person who believes in an eye for an eye. If you are going to live by the sword, be prepared to die by the sword.
It’s sad what happened but ke it’s what happen when you rely too much on muti that allegedly makes people brave and invincible.
Nandisile on Mon, 20th Aug 2012 7:27 pm
@leungo the miners hacked 2 ppl, not 12. Equal outrage requires facts.
It’s never right when anyone gets killed.. Sad sad time in SA.
Babyluv on Mon, 20th Aug 2012 9:50 pm
@nandisile its more than 2 people. They hacked 2 police men, 2 security guards and 3 of their colleagues
Babyluv on Mon, 20th Aug 2012 10:00 pm
And the pay increase they are expecting is a bit steep 4rm R4 to R12500, hai noko they must be reasonable, the most that they cn expect is a R1000 increase. As much as we complain that the CEO gets paid too much or his bonus is huge, its a known fact the CEOs get paid big bucks. And that 2 billion profit goes to shareholders, and some of it goes back in the business
Dladla on Wed, 22nd Aug 2012 9:51 am
I have realised… ‘We’ have a tendency of dwelling on problems, issues and incidents that have already taken place as opposed to coming up with ways to solve these.
Hence we end-up wanting to be right through shoving ‘our’ views down other people’s thinking.