Crisis Management 101: Marikane Crisis Management Questioned
Roche Mamabolo
When the tragic events of the death of 45 people occurred at Marikana, this event made not only
local news but also international headlines, again South Africa making news for the wrong
reasons, another own goal. But that a similar event was a time bomb waiting to happen has been
predicted by some social and political commentators before. In one of his public speeches
Matthew Phosa did warn South Africa leaders that if the gap between the rich and poor is not
closed and poverty is alleviated, then the country must be careful of another Arab Spring
happening in our country. His comments might have sounded alarmist or exaggerated, but the
Marikana event has to be one of the biggest signals post 1994 that indeed if poverty is not
alleviated, if the gap between the rich and poor is not closed, more violent protest actions will
be the order of the day. There are ever so angles that one can write about the Marikana events,
the response of the Police was it too excessive, the Conduct of the miners carrying weapons, the
role of Trade Unions and their contribution or lack thereof, the role of the Minister of Labour in
relation to enforcing properly and safe working conditions in mines etc, so many questions to be
asked and lessons to be learned. And we dare not miss the lessons from such a tragic event
because never again should people lose their lives before we can reach an agreement. This
article is not about what actually happened during the tragic day or about who is to be blamed
for the event, this will be the subject of the Commission of Inquiry to determine and pronounce
judgement on.
The angle I want to explore is the behaviour of corporate companies in the face of a crisis during
and after this event. I choose this angle because in Desmond Tutu’s words when asked about the
tension between Israel and Palestine, he said “the onus to bring peace lies with those who have
the great power in the conflict”, I therefore say the onus to bring stability and calm in the tragic
events of Marikana lies with Lonmin because it is the employer and has great capacity and
resources. Lonmin’s behaviour or rather the lack thereof is what the article tries to explore
because the crisis can be resolved or worsened depending on how those is position of power
respond.
It is highly unacceptable that the CEO and spokesperson of a major corporation does not talk to
the nation in the middle of a crisis. Lonmin CEO is sick and the spokesperson cannot talk to the
nation because he is attending “counselling therapy”. Lonmin is the 3rd largest platinum
producer in the world and with all those executives and resources, they failed to respond
immediately to the Marikana event. Crisis Management 101 says that the last thing you do in a
crisis is to bury your head in the sand. 45 people are dead, if the CEO is sick, then it is prudent
that the Chairman or someone from the Board of directors or executive management come out
and show leadership by addressing the workers, the nation, the community, that’s precisely why
they are paid millions in salaries, to also deal with difficult situations.
The Lonmin management is a classic example of how not behave in a crisis. They desensitised
themselves from the situation, did not avail anyone to address the nation, instead the first
interview we see is of Lonmin spokesperson on BBC. Lonmin missed the opportunity to write its
own script and version of the story in this sad saga by timely communicating and calming the
storm. History will reflect that Lonmin vanished and failed to show leadership on such a tragic
event, giving more credence and justification that protests by Occupy Wall Street movements
are valid, that indeed corporate companies are greedy and only think of their own interests at
the expense of workers and other less powerful stakeholders.
A few days later after the Marikana events, enters 1Time’s crisis. 1time has applied for business
rescue package because it was “financially distressed”. When news of the rescue package came
out, 1Time CEO Mr Black Komani was visible, he conducted interviews on radio and TV on the
day the news broke out. Even though his explanation of the why 1Time was in such dire straits
and the reasons why they needed a rescue package was not convincing, at the very least he was
visible and took the bull by the horn. Unlike Lonmin he didn’t bury his head in the sand and
avoided the media. He was visible , he became the face of 1Time and showed responsibility and
courageous leadership. Yes the two 1time and Marikana situations are different, but given the
severity of the Marikana events, Lonmin management should have been more visible than
1Time CEO.
Lonmin management and Board should make time and invest in the case-study of Pick’n Pay
Sean Summers on how he handled the food poisoning crisis when it broke out.

He told the truth. The first principle of any crisis management situation is to tell the
truth, and tell it first and fast.

He apologised for the incident and accepted responsibility;

He outline the exact problem, the nature of the problem and the full extend of the
problem;

He briefly outlined a program of action to remedy the crisis, and the possible times and
deadlines it is projected to be resolved and he gave daily regular feedback on TV and
Radio about the status and progress made on the event;

He was visible, he made regular if not daily TV and Radio interviews. In fact he called in
on Radio Shows to give feedback; and

He became the single face of Pick’n Pay during this crisis. This made sure that only one
source of information is communicated to the public, and this also ensured that
duplicate or confusing messages communicated to the public. There is a high risk of
miscommunication or confusion if two or three people communicate one event.
The mistake Pick’n Pay made is the time window period between them knowing about the
threat and public action was long. Pick’n Pay did not communicate to the public the food
poisoning immediately when it detected it, instead it waited for 7 weeks when the event claimed
its first victim. But once the event went public, Sean Summer handled the entire episode with
the candour and professionalism it required.
Lonmin and how it handled this saga does not differ much from how the government handled
the situation when former president Nelson Mandela went to hospital for his routine medical
check-up and the entire episode unnecessarily deteriorate into a mini suspense drama and sent
concerns about Mandela’s health throughout the country and the world about his condition
simply because of failure to communicate by the leadership. Another crisis mismanagement
event is the BP oil spill in the gulf of Mexico where the BP CEO was fired because of his lack of
leadership, in one report he was overheard saying that the oil spill was taking away his golfing
time.
Communication is key, and most importantly during a crisis. Failure to communicate during a
crisis risks exacerbating the crisis. Everything rises and falls with leadership. Leaders should
communicate more during difficult times, this is what Mandela means when he says leaders
must lead from the front during difficult times and can take a back-seat and empower others to
lead thereby lead from the back during easier times. Lonmin leadership has failed to lead from
the front the difficult situation adding to another case study of what not to do during a crisis.