Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has been rightly condemned for her reckless and inhumane remarks bordering on breaching the Constitution.
Her comments regarding the illegal miners, believed to be in their thousands, in Stilfontein North West, explain why this government is not the right vehicle to remove the label that South Africa is the most unequal society in the world.
Asked if the government would intervene in the crisis that is unfolding in Stilfontein, Ntshavheni, chuckling before answering stated: “We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped. Criminals are to be persecuted.
We didn’t send them there, and they didn’t go down there for the good benefit or for the good intentions for the Republic. So, we can’t help them.
Those who want to help them must go and take the food down there.
“They will come out, and we will arrest them.”
We state upfront that we do not condone crime. However, Ntshaveni’s remarks overlook the fact that the country’s Constitution guarantees the right to life to everyone including “criminals” as she labels them. It is also unequivocal on the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.
Simply put, the government cannot block aid because it sees illegal miners as lesser human beings.
Ntshavheni’s remarks must be viewed in the context of how the current government under the presidency of Ramaphosa continues to wage a war against the poor.
Remember the Marikana massacre where miners rightly demanding to be compensated were killed by the state.
Ramaphosa has not demanded that Ntshavheni withdraw her remarks.
A government that ignores the historical context of mining in this country is not worthy of calling itself representative of the people. If anything, the Stilfontein crisis is proof of the state’s failure to transfer this country’s wealth to the communities where these natural resources are being extracted.
Cape Times