Making headlines: Marikana massacre to be commemorated at hillside where massacre occurred; Zim's international standing 'severely dented by Grace Mugabe's alleged criminal conduct in SA'; And, Tshwane roads, railway lines blocked and cars pelted in taxi protest

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Marikana massacre to be commemorated at hillside where massacre occurred

The deaths of 34 miners during the Marikana massacre in 2012 will be commemorated by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union today at the hillside where the massacre occurred.

Police shot and killed the miners on August 16, 2012, in an apparent attempt to disperse striking Lonmin miners who were demanding that their salaries be nearly tripled to R12 500 a month.

Ten people, including two police officers and two Lonmin security guards, had been killed in the preceding week.

Yesterday, IOL reported that AMCU president  Joseph Mathunjwa  barred ANC presidential hopeful Cyril Ramaphosa from attending the commemoration, saying Ramaphosa’s intere st in Marikana was purely for campaigning purposes.

Zim's international standing 'severely dented by Grace Mugabe's alleged criminal conduct in SA'

Zimbabwe's main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change party and pro-democracy groups have slammed First Lady Grace Mugabe over her alleged assault of a model that she reportedly saw in the company of one of her two sons in South Africa.

Grace, who reportedly sneaked back into Zimbabwe yesterday at a time when she was expected to face justice in South Africa, allegedly assaulted a 20-year-old South African, Gabriella Engels, over the weekend using an extension cord while her bodyguards looked on. Engels then made a report to the police.

Although presidential spokesperson George Charamba did not answer his mobile phone, some prominent activists of President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party posted on social media that the First Lady was now in Zimbabwe. It was not clear which airline the First Lady used although some aviation sources claimed that she landed at Charles Prince Airport arriving from the Swartkop Air Force Base in South Africa.

And, Tshwane roads, railway lines blocked and cars pelted in taxi protest

Taxi drivers embarked on illegal protest action in Tshwane today, blocking several roads and railway lines and pelting passing cars with rocks.

Police said several roads in Mabopane, Ga-Rankuwa, Soshanguve as well as the Mabopane highway have been blocked by taxis.

Police were also present in Mamelodi where the taxi strike was supposed to originate from. Apart from attempts to block roads earlier this morning, main routes in and out of Mamelodi have not been blocked or obstructed and taxis in that area were operating as normal.

Bonny Ndjishe, the secretary of the Mamelodi Amalgamated Taxi Association told media their services were operating as normal to ensure people get to work. He said they were also monitoring the roads to make sure no criminal elements emerge during the protest.

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That’s a roundup of news making headlines today