/ 1 April 2015

Marikana massacre report handed to Zuma

Marikana Massacre Report Handed To Zuma

President Jacob Zuma received on Tuesday the official Farlam Commission of Inquiry report into the police killing of 34 South African miners in 2012, as rights groups demanded the speedy release of the findings.

Zuma, who is visiting Algeria, “will prioritise the consideration of the report on his return”, a statement from his office said, confirming that the document had been received.

But Deprose Muchena, of Amnesty International, said Zuma “must make public the full report as a priority …The surviving victims of the tragic events of Marikana and the families of all those who died have a right to receive justice.” 

The Marikana Support Campaign group demanded that the report be published within two months, adding that the evidence heard by the inquiry pointed to “some weighty conclusions”. The presidency made no mention of when it planned to release the report.

Worst violence since democracy
The shooting at the Marikana mine was the worst violence in the country since the advent of democracy in 1994, and evidence at the inquiry tarnished police claims that they had acted in self-defence when they gunned down the striking miners.

In the days before, 10 other people were killed in violence around the platinum mine – including non-striking miners, security guards and two police officers who were hacked to death.

Lawyers for the dead miners’ families blamed the killings on a bout of police revenge, and accused officers of a cover-up.

Mining house Lonmin was widely criticised during the inquiry for failing to engage with the workers’ wage demands.

It has also been blamed for the murders of its security guards and non-striking miners. The mining house has denied any responsibility.

A number of the legal teams recommended that senior police officials –- including the former police minister Nathi Mthethwa and national police commissioner Riah Phiyega –- be investigated for murder.

They also argued that Lonmin executives should be charged as accomplices.

Blame
But others fingered South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa contacted the ministers of police and mineral resources in the days leading up to the massacre, pushing for police intervention over the strike.

Ramaphosa was not in government at the time, but a non-executive director of Lonmin and a senior leader in the ruling ANC party.

He has maintained he was simply trying to prevent further violence. – AFP