Johannesburg - Lonmin, the world’s fourth-largest platinum producer by value, responded on Friday to a report condemning its role in the massacre of striking workers at its Marikana mine in South Africa by saying it had worked hard to improve safety and wellbeing for its workers, but still had a long way to go.
The 2012 “Marikana massacre”, where 34 miners were gunned down by police, shocked the world.
The 640-page report into South Africa’s worst police killing since the end of apartheid was released by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday and blamed Lonmin, police and unions for the “horrendous tragedy”.
The report faulted Lonmin on five counts, including an insistence that miners who were not on strike come to work while it could not guarantee their safety at the mine near Rustenburg.
The report condemned Lonmin’s implementation of its social and labour plans - the poor conditions of miners were seen to have fuelled their frustration and militancy.
Responding to the report, Lonmin said this was a vital step in the healing process after the tragedy, but that it did not believe that it would be helpful to respond in detail so soon after publication and needed time to digest the findings.
“This report is a milestone on the road to ensuring that such an event never, ever happens again,” said Lonmin Chief Executive Officer Ben Magara.
“As a company we have worked hard over the past two and a half years to build a more open, transparent and mutually trustworthy environment, and in the process make Lonmin a safer, better place to work... Much work has been done in this regard but we still have a long way to go, as does our industry and the country.”
Lonmin said it would provide a further update when appropriate.
ANA