Daily Sun (March 13 2014) - THE COPS have always said they shot at charging miners in self-defence. But photographs taken of bodies lying on the ground tell a different story. PICTURES SHOW SOME MINERS WERE SHOT WITH THEIR HANDS TIED BEHIND THEIR BACKS!
Even the commissioner himself had questions for witness Major-General Ganasen Naidoo of the SAPS after it was stated that cut cable ties were found near some of the bodies (see transcript of testimony here - PDF).
"Can you help us understand what the cable ties were doing there?" asked Judge Ian Farlam. "Can you help us understand what a cut cable tie would be doing on a dead body?''
The chilling evidence was presented to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry yesterday by Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, who is representing the widows and families of the dead miners.
Ntsebeza showed pictures of at least four miners whom he argued were shot execution style at Scene 2. The miners had fled there after the first shooting at Scene 1, where 17 miners were gunned down.
Police have argued that the miners at Scene 2 were charging towards them when they were shot. But Ntsebeza showed miners were shot dead with their hands tied.
One of the pictures shows Nkosiyabo Xalabile with his arms tied behind his back. No cable tie can be seen but his hands are criss-crossed behind his back.
"The killing of Xalabile would be inconsistent with someone charging at the police,'' said Ntsebeza during his cross examination of North West provincial deputy commissioner Naidoo.
Naidoo, who was one of the commanders on the ground, could not dispute the post mortem report, which supports Ntsebeza's argument.
The scene where miner Anele Mdizeni was found was littered with cut cable ties, one of them on the dead man's leg.
Naidoo could offer no explanation except to say when he arrived at the scene on the day other police members were already there.
Another miner, Thabiso Thelejane, had fallen face down.
He had been shot in the back. Ntsebeza said evidence suggests he was shot while running from the police. No weapons were found near the bodies.
Ntsebeza showed the body of Henry Pato, who had been shot in the back at the base of the neck.
Ntsebeza's evidence followed statements made to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate by some of the survivors. In their statements, the survivors said they saw some of their colleagues being shot dead with their arms raised in surrender.
"We will argue these miners were shot execution style and were in no way charging at police," said Ntsebeza.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 297,614 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 4th Quarter 2013) and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.
Issued through the Politicsweb iService
