Marikana massacre: NPA's fight for justice resumes

State continues to fail the families of the deceased

- MANYANE MANYANE

THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) says the case against police officers who were acquitted in relation to the Marikana Massacre will be reinstated.

The NPA said the docket has been compiled for the process to resume. This follows demands for accountability.

The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri) said the NPA has failed to prosecute anyone for the deaths of mineworkers despite its assurance to hold those involved to account.

August 16, marked 13 years since the tragic Marikana Massacre, when police shot protesting mineworkers, killing 34 in 2012. The mineworkers from Lonmin Mine went on a strike for six weeks, challenging their working conditions and demanding a wage increase. Seri said that without bringing prosecutions for the massacre, the state continues to fail the families of the deceased and the survivors.

In 2015, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry recommended a criminal investigation into the police over the deaths of the miners. The report concluded that police had a defective plan to end the strike and were wrong to proceed with it.

Seri said that despite repeated assurances of its commitment to dealing with the criminal proceedings relating to the deaths at Marikana, the NPA has failed to prosecute anyone for the deaths of mineworkers that arose from the events of August 16, 2012.