
Cracked Houses and Unemployment in Marikana. (extract from Rustenburg Review)
Residents who have been living for a long time in the area say that since the mining started they have notices cracks in their houses. When this is raised with the mine that mine says that this due to the weak construction of their houses. The residents say that these cracks are caused by underground vibrations they hear which are the sign of mining.
Residents complain that the mine doesn’t want to employ them, since 2008 the mine has not employed anyone from the Unemployed Workers Forum. Recently there has been big unrest among the unemployed which lead to battles between with mine security and the police. Residents insist that since mines have disrupted their lives they must provide jobs for them and not bring in outside labour. This has placed the local community in conflict with migrant labourers