South Africa's abundant mineral resources play a vital role in global manufacturing and economic growth. However, the mining sector faces significant challenges related to labour relations, which can impact on the sector's reputation and overall image. This study focuses on exploring the message strategies employed in stakeholder communication during the Marikana labour crisis, with implications for reputation and crisis management. Through content analysis of 120 articles published in the Mail and Guardian newspaper online between August 2012 and October 2014, two crisis communication message strategies are identified and discussed: mortification and distance strategies. It is observed that the choice of crisis-message strategy depends on the targeted stakeholder group. Additionally, the findings highlight the importance of consistency in messaging across different stakeholder linkages. The study also reveals patterns in the messages, stakeholder linkages, and issues reflected in the media coverage. These findings can assist strategic communication practitioners in advocating for proactive crisis management planning within organisations. The practical application of these findings includes integrating them into crisis planning processes to help organisations formulate and design effective message strategies during crises.

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