| Summary: | The tragic events on the 16 August 2012 in South Africa, led to the loss of life in Marikana just outside of Rustenburg. These tragic event not only scared the country, but fundamentally changed the future of South Africa. The loss of life seized international headlines because of the relative youth of South Africa’s democracy and because South Africa is a popular mining destination. The end of apartheid and the holding of the first democratic elections was an opportunity for South Africa to create a new nation state. The tragic events that occurred at Marikana were a scar in the collective memory of South Africans that blighted that drive. Tragic events have the potential to be created into sites of what are termed dark tourism or justice tourism. South Africa, because of its troubled past has a plethora of dark
tourism sites such as Sharpeville. Marikana is therefore a post-apartheid dark tourism destination that should be developed, commodified and commercialized for local and international tourism consumption.
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