---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John A Imani <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 9:50 PM Subject: BBC: South African miners call for general strike To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
(JAI: The working-class uniting. These comrades have stopped production at Lonmin, dominant in the platinum mining and processing. These comrades, at long last, demonstrate the power that we, as workers, have. If the "Arab Spring" paved the way for political revolutions then this "African Summer" (though winter there) has heated up the economic confrontations between we, who work, and they who deny us work save at the cost of a large portion of the value our labor adds. Even then this partial slavery is made complete--in-its-oppositeness--when the wage-slave is denied work by these same (Name the Beast!) capitalists when the products we could make, we are no longer permitted to make because they no longer make them money. But these are products many--denied them for lack of purchasing power, for lack of a job, for lack of an economic system that regards production as a means of satisfying the wants, needs and desires of the many and not the means to satisfy ever-grasping-greed--products that almost all of us need and too many of us need desperately. It is outright treachery what the ANC government--in the area referred to as S Africa--criminal what the ANC has done and is doing not only to its own subjects it rules over but to the billions who first cheered, protested and clashed with their own 'authorities' over our support for the ANC; and the billions today of the oppressed who thought that we had an example in the ANC. Looking back upon all of the great and grand revolutionaries of that time, eg, Nkrumah<https://www.google.com/search?q=Nkrumah&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a>, Lumumba<https://www.google.com/search?q=Lumumba&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a>, Toure,<https://www.google.com/search?q=Toure&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_nf=1&tok=qM2TQ9xs4lntcPCRiKcoNg&pq=toure&cp=2&gs_id=cc&xhr=t&q=sekou+toure&pf=p&client=firefox-a&hs=2eO&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&sclient=psy-ab&oq=SeToure&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=a9b3dc5f5b4e3582&biw=1024&bih=625> Kenyatta<https://www.google.com/search?q=Kenyatta&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a>, when Africa arose--almost as one--all of the hopes and dreams that men such as these and movements such as the Mau Mau<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau_Uprising>, the MPLA <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPLA>, and then the grand dream of the OAU <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_of_African_Unity>, inspired across the world and, indeed, was an important step in the rise of the black nationalism<https://www.google.com/search?q=black+nationalism&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a>, black culture, i.e. "Black is Beautiful"<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_is_beautiful> "I'm Black and I'm Proud" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suw_CQ3zfTY>, Black Power and black militancy in the area called the United States in the'50's and '60s. As the militancy died in the '70's so across newly liberated lands the old guard (ex-colonialists-still-rich) and their new flunkies--bribed and recruited out of members of the former liberationists--turned the vision of national liberation into internationalist capitalist subjugation: "Meet the new Boss...Same as the old Boss." <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO8GhA8OdyQ> Much is made of ANC 'freedom-fighter' Cyril Ramaphosa's business interest in Lonmin <http://praag.org/?p=1173>. But Ramaphosa is to Lonmin what Magic Johnson is to the Dodgers: a well-paid smiley-face public relations stunt. DeBeers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beers>, which dominates all aspects of the world diamond trade, is not owned by the ANC<http://www.breakingviews.com/de-beers-buyout-adds-polish-to-anglo-american/1614204.article>, nor run by the ANC, only protected--like Lonmin--by the ANC. I don't know his name but there's probably a smiley-face African version of what Malcolm<https://www.google.com/search?q=Malcolm+x&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a>would call a "House Negro" <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQe9nUKzvQ> putting a black face on top of his white mask.<https://www.google.com/search?q=black+face+on+top+of+a+white+mask.&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a> The lesson to be learned from all of this is simple: It is not the color of the capitalist; it simply is...the capitalist. JAI RAC-LA) South African miners call for general strike [image: Police keep watch during the arrival of some of the mine workers, at a Garankuwa court outside Pretoria (20 August 2012)] The mining strikes have been marked by fatal clashes Continue reading the main story<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19585910#story_continues_1> Related Stories - SA military put on 'high alert'<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19568940> - Platinum firm shuts S Africa mine<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19576902> - Zuma 'will not act' in mine case<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19454559> A leader of South Africa's striking platinum miners has called for a general strike to "bring mining companies to their knees". The call came at a mass rally for the miners, who have been on strike for weeks to press for higher pay. Mametlwe Sebei said the general strike would start in Rustenburg, the centre of platinum production, on Sunday. The strikes have been marked by violent clashes, including the shooting of 34 miners by police. A wildcat strike at a mine owned by the London-listed Lonmin on 16 August saw 10 people killed before the police started shooting. Since then, mines have been closed by leading companies, including Anglo American, resulting in production suspensions and tens of thousands of miners unable to work. At Thursday's meeting, protest leader Mametlwe Sebei told several thousand miners: "On Sunday, we are starting with a general strike here in Rustenburg." His call echoed that of the firebrand politician Julius Malema, who called for a national strike when he addressed disgruntled soldiers in the Johannesburg area on Wednesday. That led to the South African government placing its military on high alert, the first such move since democracy came to the country in 1994. Political wrangling The government is concerned that the miners' protests are being used as a focal point for opponents of South African President Jacob Zuma. Mr Malema, who was expelled from the ruling ANC party, is viewed as trying to resuscitate his political career and force President Zuma from office at its national conference in December. Joseph Mathunjwa, the leader of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), has called for Mr Zuma to take a lead in resolving the situation. Mining accounts for about 20% of South Africa's national output and the country is home to 80% of known reserves of platinum. The price of the element, which has a wide range of industrial and medical uses, has gained nearly 20% since the police shootings at Lonmin's Marikana mine. Shares in both Anglo American and Lonmin have been hit by the miners' actions. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19585910 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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