BASF and the Marikana massacre

16 August 2012, Marikana/South Africa: 34 striking miners of the world´s third-largest platinum mining company LONMIN are shot by the police. In the final report of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry LONMIN was assigned share of the responsibility for this massacre.
BASF is the main customer of LONMIN.
 As a German flagship company and a founding member of the UN Global Compact,  BASF – the world´s largest chemical company – portrays itself as an international pioneer in ‘supply-chain responsibility’ and claims its sustainability standards ‘go far beyond statutory requirements’. Just at the urging of Bishop Jo Seoka in April 2015 BASF gave its first statement to the massacre, claiming that LONMIN’s failings were ‘difficult to judge from a distance’. Full article

Editorial note

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an article was published by the German newspaper Die ZEIT (No. 15/2020, 1st April)  featuring the headline “Corona Fund: Europe can only live on if Europeans stand up for each other now – intellectuals, artists, politicians and economists call for a Corona fund”, which starts as follows: “In the last few days, thousands have died from the coronavirus in Italy and Spain alone, 1000 in 24 hours in Italy, 800 in Spain. These reports are not coming from another planet or from a distant continent. They are coming from our neighbouring countries to which we feel connected to.”  Full article

“Neither water nor emergency aid”

An ongoing Whatsapp-exchange with Thapelo Lekgowa, a Rustenburg-based author and freelance journalist about the impact of the Corona-Lockdown on mining communities at the Platinum Belt

6 April 2020
Plough Back The Fruits: What happened in Marikana after president Ramaphosa announced the nation-wide lockdown on 23 March 2020?

Thapelo Lekgowa: 90% of mine workers left their respective work residence areas and travelled to various homelands across South Africa and in some neighboring countries.

Most mines including Sibanye Platinum which now employs many of Marikana Widows had just started Covid19 Awareness through video material which was played at waiting stations and in some other parts of the mine. Full article