Radio feature on the widows of Marikana

The death of 34 miners at the hands of the South African Police Services on the 16th of August in 2012 left the families destitute. The wives sank deeper into debt trying to meet the basic needs of the family as their husbands were breadwinners. There were many promises that were made by Lonmin to the families after the massacre but none of them have been fulfilled. The way it works in mining towns in South Africa and elsewhere is that the mines employ mostly men. This sexual division of labour often results in violence against women.

The following radio feature looks at how the Marikana widows are surviving and the promises that were made to them. It was produced by Workers’ World Media Productions in 2014, two years after the massacre.