President Jacob Zuma on Thursday night gave a 30-minute summary of the 646-page report on the Marikana massacre by the Farlam Commission.
View the Marikana Commission’s report here
Marikana: The blame game
Reading from a prepared statement, Zuma said the commission had found that:
- Lonmin, the Association of Mineworkers and construction Union (Amcu), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and individual strikers had all either failed to do everything possible to defuse tensions, or had inflamed the situation.
- Deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and former ministers Nathi Mthethwa and Susan Shabangu carried no blame for the massacre.
- That the SA Police Service (SAPS) had made poor decisions, failed to properly implement those decisions, failed to exercise effective command, failed to make a full disclosure to the commission, and may have cost at least one man his life by providing first aid treatment too late.
The recommendations Zuma highlighted included:
- that mining house Lonmin be force to comply with housing obligations to its workers
- that the SAPS constitutes a panel of experts on dealing with armed crowds and radically revise its approach to public-order policing
- that the SAPS should keep better records of operations, including recording all radio traffic
- that the SAPS should providing training on a wide range of issues, from first aid to the use of water cannons
- that the SAPS should be demilitarised as a matter of urgency
On the referral of investigations and prosecutions Zuma said the commission
- wished all SAPS members who were involved in the Marikana shootings to be considered for criminal charges
- wanted Marikana strikers investigated for the carrying of dangerous weapons in public gatherings.
Zuma also announced that he had already informed national police commissioner Riah Piyega that an inquiry into her fitness to hold office had been proposed.