Marikana: 'My husband died in vain'

The widows of the miners who were killed by the police want the men to be arrested and punished

It is a year since South African police shot dead 34 striking miners at the Marikana mine, shocking the nation and the world. The BBC's Pumza Fihlani looks at how the killing has changed the country.

It is a chilly winter's day and widows Nonkululeko Ngxande, 32 and Zameka Nungu, 40 have returned to the place where their husbands breathed their last and they are shocked by what they see.

The white wooden crosses that had been erected in memorial of the dead miners are now lying neglected in a pile at the bottom of the rocky hill - some have even broken.

"Our husbands were killed like dogs. We are widows today because of the police and yet no-one has been arrested for their deaths," says Ms Nungu, tears gushing down her face.

"No-one cares about the men who died here because they were nobodies," she continues, her eyes red from crying.   "My husband was shot nine times - what would make someone do this to another human being?”

The widows believe the desecrated crosses are telling - a reflection of how little the deaths of their beloved husbands have meant to those blamed for them - mine owner Lonmin, the police and the government.

It has been a year since Ms Ngxande's husband died but the pain of losing him is still etched on her face. Her voice shakes when she speaks about him.

"I have no-one to support me. My husband worked hard to take care of me and our two children. We had dreams and they all died the day he was killed," she sobs.

Her husband Mpumezi Ngxande was 36 when he died. He was a rock-drill operator from Ngqeleni, an impoverished village in the far-off Eastern Cape.

He had struggled for years to find work and the family had seen his job as a chance for a better future, his wife tells me.

But in August 2012, he and other miners embarked on an unofficial strike to demand 12,500 rand ($1,260; £810) a month, claiming that many of them were paid as little as 3,800 rand despite years of hard work, often under dangerous conditions.

The week before what is now referred to as the "Marikana massacre", 10 people were killed in violent clashes, including two police officers and two security guards who were hacked to death, allegedly by miners.

On 16 August, police opened fire on a crowd of strikers, later saying they had been "overwhelmed".

When the dust had settled minutes later, 34 dead bodies lay on the ground and 78 were wounded.