Johannesburg - As the country commemorates 11 years since the Marikana massacre on August 16, 2012, Good party secretary general Brett Herron has called for the country to learn some lessons from the tragedy.
The party has called on the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, and the Department of Justice to reflect on the sad and bloody history that has become a yearly reminder of the atrocities of Marikana more than 10 years after the tragedy.
“The Good party calls on the ministers of Police and Justice to reflect on our history and find the means to build credible and apolitical police and prosecutorial services (arguably for the first time since South Africa’s colonisation) to honour those who lost limbs and lives at Marikana 11 years ago.
“The Marikana Massacre will remain an indelible stain on our democracy. But if we heed the lessons written in miners’ blood on August 16, 2023, we will prevent similar atrocities in the future and build a more just society,” Herron said on Wednesday.
Various political parties, including the EFF, are visiting the mining town in commemoration of the events of that fateful day.
There have been complaints that the victims of the tragedy and their families are still suffering under the same conditions as in August 2012, even though promises were made to improve their lives.
On that day, 34 miners lost their lives when police opened fire on striking Lonmin workers. Another 78 mine workers were seriously injured.
In the days leading up to the deadly incident, 10 other people lost their lives, including two police officers.
“Eleven years on, the wounds of the tragedy continue to bleed. The healing balm of justice has yet to be applied, just as it has not been applied to the wounds of apartheid-era victims.
“The Marikana Commission of Inquiry, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, cost the country R153 million and sat for 300 days,” Herron added.
The Farlam Commission, where victims and perpetrators gave their testimony and released its report in 2015, absolved political figures accused of having a hand in the events but brought Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega’s fitness to hold office into question.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is accused of having given an order for “concomitant action” to be taken against striking miners.
“The commission also recommended the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) investigate members of the SAPS, who in firing shots at the strikers may have exceeded the bounds of self-defence and private defence, and ‘the possible liability of senior officers in the SAPS’.
“However, besides Phiyega, members of the police and their leadership have never been held to account,” Herron said.
The party says it is only the Lonmin mine workers, accused of the murders in the days preceding the massacre, who have seen the inside of a courtroom.
Herron has called for law enforcement agencies to learn tough lessons on crowd policing, which has been singled out as the leading contributing factor to the killings of innocent and sometimes peaceful protesters.
Crowd policing was also picked up as having been inadequate during the Marikana massacre.
“This unresolved accountability contributes to a credibility crisis for South Africa’s ability to uphold the rule of law. There are many lessons that the Marikana massacre taught us about appropriate and inappropriate police actions, but South Africa has thus far failed to learn the lessons,” he said.
According to the party, the many national, provincial and local crime fighting units, including the police, metro police, and other agencies, must be equipped with the right skills and techniques in dealing with crowd control to avoid another Marikana moment.
This comes as service delivery protests have once again put law enforcement agencies under the spotlight in recent weeks.
“Across the country, reports of police abusing their powers, emboldened by political figures, continue to make headlines,” Herron said.
“Just last month, the violent assault of members of the public by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection unit was caught on camera.
“What is more alarming is that the ministers in charge of upholding the country’s rule of law continue to allow illegal policing or the abuse of power by political figures to go unchecked.”
Herron said in March 2022, in response to his parliamentary questions, that Cele confirmed that the City of Cape Town was engaged in “rogue” policing “bypassing the legal structure”.
“The ‘rogue’ policing unit was the City’s Special Investigating Unit, which was conducting rogue or unlawful investigations. Despite Minister Cele’s commitment to deal with the situation, he doesn’t appear to have taken any action.
“We owe it to the victims of Marikana to learn from history instead of repeating it. The ministers of Police and Justice should not wait for the next tragedy to force their hand,” Herron said.
The Star