Did our brothers have a choice? (Marikana)

Did our brothers have a choice between
a life deep in the depth of despair and
a meagre R12500.00 for endless toils?

Did our brothers have a choice between
a raging Buffalo charging for platinum and
the anguish of poverty stricken shacks?

Did our brothers have a choice between
going home to their hungry kids and
leaving without a word ‘goodbye’?

Did our brothers have a choice between
abandoning the Koppie
and a deadly run to a hail of bullets?

Did our brothers have a choice between
the thorns of the barbed wire that surrounded them and
the sting of R5 ammo?

Did our brothers have a choice between
evading the gushing blood and
staring death on the face as it triumps?

Did our brothers have a choice between
the platinum-hell miles and miles underground; and
the hell 6-feet under?

Did our brothers have a choice between
a black life of endlessly toiling
and a tomorrow devoid of existence?

By dzumbu mmbara
(Based on the poem of the same title by Essop Patel for Staffrider Volume 4 April/May 1981, re-arranged for Mayihlome News – photo:http://luckygecko.co.za)