I was preparing a Marikana anniversary event at the University of Johannesburg when I had one of those moments when you say to yourself: ‘Why didn’t I think of that before?’
The year 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of the Marikana massacre and also the centenary of the Rand Revolt. The former was a turning point, but the latter was at least as significant historically and even more people were killed. Yet, very little has been said about the centenary, and this got me thinking…Circa 1922: In Fordsburg, the Rand Revolt was nothing short of trench warfare.
Brixton Ridge, site of the most famous battle in the 1922 Rand Revolt. Further down is the Bunting Road Campus of the University of Johannesburg. The Koppie is on Google Maps. It’s on open ground and simple to access. The boundary fence beside the koppie and the school was one I recognised. It is a University of Johannesburg fence, part of the Bunting Road campus. So, today’s UJ actually reaches the ridge, which provides a natural boundary. Then, I realised that the fence and the school are what I see when I walk up from my office located in the quaintly named Research Village.
Some of the thousands of striking miners from the Lonmin platinum mine march to the gates of the Karee Mine as part of their mass action in an attempt for higher wages, Marikana, South Africa, 5 September 2012. Or, perhaps, the Rand Revolt is too controversial, too complicated, so better put to one side. It is certainly controversial. About 70 strikers and a similar number of government forces were killed, and about 30 Africans also lost their lives, killed by white workers. The strikers’ leaders tried to stop the racial massacre, but it provides a reminder of the brutality of many white workers in those days.
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