Marikana miners, residents remember that day 4 years ago
16 August 2016
Rustenburg - Hundreds of miners and Marikana residents were on Tuesday commemorating the shooting of 34 Lonmin workers by police four years ago.
The miners were carrying knobkerries and making their way to one of the two koppies where the shooting took place.
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) president Joseph Mathunjwa and some of the relatives of those killed were expected to speak. An EFF-branded tent, with a poster of party leader Julius Malema pinned to its side, had been erected near the site.
According to Amcu’s Twitter account, R2m had been donated to the Marikana Massacre Amcu Trust Fund to help the families of those killed. The union appealed for more donations.
On August 16, 2012, police shot dead 34 striking Lonmin miners, apparently in an attempt to disperse them and end their strike. Ten people, including two police officers and two Lonmin security guards, were killed in the preceding week.
President Jacob Zuma subsequently established a commission of inquiry, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, to investigate the shooting.
The commission found that no senior government officials, including Lonmin non-executive board member Cyril Ramaphosa, were responsible for the shooting. It however recommended a probe into national police commissioner Riah Phiyega's fitness to hold office.
Zuma suspended Phiyega in October last year, pending an inquiry into her fitness to hold office. In May this year, the inquiry heard that she had changed a statement prepared by police, shortly before addressing the media about the shooting.
She removed reference to the number of people killed and added that police were forced to use "maximum force" to defend themselves, Lindela Mashigo - a brigadier at the time and responsible for the police's communications department - told the inquiry.
On August 17, Phiyega dictated to him the changes to a statement to be read to journalists about the previous day's events.
The commission concluded its work in June.
This article first appeared on News24, see here.
