Film ‘Strike A Rock’ Follows Victims’ Families of South Africa’s Marikana Miners Massacre

APTOPIX SOUTH AFRICA STRIKES
A group of protestors holds placards as a large crowd followed retired judge Ian Farlam and his team as they inspected the area where the bodies of mine workers were found after the shootings at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana near Rustenburg, South Africa, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Farlam, is conducting an inquiry into the shootings at the platinum mine. Themba Hadebe / AP Photo
APTOPIX SOUTH AFRICA STRIKES
A group of protestors holds placards as a large crowd followed retired judge Ian Farlam and his team as they inspected the area where the bodies of mine workers were found after the shootings at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana near Rustenburg, South Africa, Monday, Oct. 1, 2012. Farlam, is conducting an inquiry into the shootings at the platinum mine. Themba Hadebe / AP Photo

Film ‘Strike A Rock’ Follows Victims’ Families of South Africa’s Marikana Miners Massacre

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On August 16, 2012, South African police committed what’s been called the worst act of police brutality in the post-apartheid era. In Marikana, South Africa, police massacred 37 miners outside of the Lonmin platinum mines. A viral video showed police “wildly” spraying bullets at miners who were on strike for better pay and humane living conditions. To date, the victims’ families have not been compensated, nor has the police made any arrests or apologies. The documentary, Strike A Rock, “follows Primrose and Thumeka—two South African activists, grandmothers, and best friends—as they take on the [Lonmin Plc] platinum mining company,” blamed, in part, for the killings. We’ll talk about the massacre with Komala Ramachandra, Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher for Business & Human Rights.

Human Rights Watch-Chicago will host a screening of “Strike A Rock”, followed by panel discussion, on Monday, December 10, 2018, 6:30PM at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 North State St.