Mathunjwa labels Parliament ‘fashion house for elite’

Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) president Joseph Mathunjwa launches a blistering attack on South Africa’s legislative integrity, branding Parliament as a ‘fashion house for the elite’.

Standing in the shadow of the infamous koppie where 34 miners were gunned down over a decade ago, he addresses  mineworkers at a rally in Marikana near Rustenburg in the North West province.

Mathunjwa used the symbolic site of the 2012 massacre to declare that South Africa’s democracy has become a fake facade. He argues that the legislative process has been hollowed out, serving merely as a rubber stamp for international financial institutions and high-level corporate interests, while ordinary workers remain sidelined.

Standing near the ground where the blood of miners was shed, Mathunjwa reiterates the union’s core demand, emphasising that the struggle for economic emancipation is far from over.

“They ran to regulate domestic workers at R22 or R23, then my question is why are they afraid to touch multinational companies? The very same workers’ tax bracket will be high and the government will be benefitting from pay as you earn because they are part of the mines. They are BEE beneficiaries.”

Mathunjwa encourages South Africans to use their votes wisely to secure a future that benefits the country, specifically urging workers to back the newly formed Labour Party of South Africa.

“We gave them an opportunity to look at the conditions of employees in the country. They are terrible, we begged them to ensure that mining health and safety be considered and amended.”

WATCH | AMCU President Joseph Mathunjwa has urged workers not to be used as cannon fodder by politicians, warning against the political exploitation of labour struggles. pic.twitter.com/DpFk6wMxlv

— SABC News (@SABCNews) May 1, 2026

While the 2012 massacre is still viewed as a major symbol of workers’ struggles, miners today were focused on the new challenges of the modern industry.

“We are facing more challenges underground in terms of the Health and Safety Act that we demanded in 2018 that it must be ended. Also the Labour Relations Act, we are demanding that all those acts must be amended by the government but no one is listening to us. People are getting and some are even dying underground but the employer is not getting punished.”

Mathunjwa also calls for the Constitution to be scrapped to allow citizens to vote directly for the President instead of political parties.