“Shut up!”

Following the death of 34 people (and 78 injuries) at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in the North West, a special debate was held yesterday in Parliament.

But what occurred instead was basically mudslinging and name-calling between different political parties. It got so bad that Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu lost her temper, and told MP’s to “shut up”. She was later made to withdraw the comment.

Shabangu said the deaths, which reverberated in every corner of the country, had shamed everyone.

[The deaths] drive us on to make amends, to review in utmost depth the happenings in our sector, to check any further outbreaks — indeed, to ensure that these things never, ever, happen again.

[Source: iafrica.com]