The social injustice of the “mining” black proletarians is still in practice, 20 years after the South African “democracy” they can no longer remain stoic to the system that economically cripples them. They congregate peacefully to discuss matters that can also give them a fair economic advantage in the “Republic” however this is reciprocated with terror from the “bureaucratic” black proletarians…

Miners Shot Down , brought an audience to an emotional applause this past First Wednesday, 7th May 2014 at Atlas Studios, Milpark, Johannesburg. The First Wednesday Film Club had the screening as part of their initiative to encourage filmmaker to share their work…an initiative that began in 2004.

Miners Shot Down is a documentary film, about a six day chronicle of strikes in Marikana, North-West Province by South African mine workers of the mining company Lonmin, that ended in a brutal and fatal disaster. The film alludes to the interference of the South African Police Service (The actual perpetrators of the murderers) , The miners who got murdered and their murderer`s remaining without charges. The miners being charged as liable for the violence that erupted (which was in actual fact the SAPS).

Shot for the audience to see the strike through the perspective of the the mine workers, the film is engaging and should not only be seen by South Africans but by the rest of the world, more specially countries which receive most of platinum imports from South Africa. The film`s aesthetic is guerrilla styled  which includes a significant amount of archived footage and handheld footage shots which makes it amazing by giving a realistic point of view of the incident.

To stress out the key issues that the film shows us:

• The miners were striking for an increased wage of up to R12 500 (Which is a still considerably low amount considering that the mine makes over seven digits a year or more…Its a Platinum mine at the end of the day.)
• Cyril Ramaphosa`s adequate response to the situation and being a board member of the company.
• The 44 massacred miners whose deaths are unaccounted for.

The film prides its self as a campaign to bring justice to the aftermath of the infamous Marikana strike, the film seeks to get both old and young  people aware of the social injustice that is experienced by South African Mine Workers.

The film encourages the audience to donate to the Marikana Support Group and Organise a Public Screening to get the message across the world.

For more information on this article visit Miners Shot Down and First Wednesday Film Club 

Article by Vusumzi Ntshanga @Vusumzi92