By Abu Muhammad

Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered in Marikana to commemorate the 44 people who died ten years ago when a mine strike turned violent. Today is forty years since the assassination of apartheid activist and journalist Ruth First who was killed by a parcel bomb in Mozambique. Next week will be the first anniversary of the death of Gauteng Health Department whistle-blower Babita Deokoran.

Radio Islam spoke to activist Mark Heywood who said: “In all three of these assassinations justice still eludes us. We know who killed Ruth First. The self-confessed killed Craig Williamson – the person who sent the parcel bomb – was granted amnesty and is free today. Many feel that he should not be free and that justice was not granted to the first family.”

Heywood continued that the Marikana mine workers, 10 years on, fingers have been pointed at senior executives of Lonmin and President Cyril Ramaphosa, who may have given the instruction that the police move in and treat the matter as a criminal matter and not as a labour dispute. Nobody has been arrested or charged for all those killings.

“And then Babita Deokoran who was murdered outside one year ago – there are people on the trail for her killings, the reality is that the people on trail are not the master-minds. They are the gunmen. The three assassination point to a failure of our justice system. What is sad is that all three people or groups of people sought justice. They were all making sacrifices not for themselves but for the country,”: added Heywood.

Click the link to listen to the full interview