Rustenburg - The specialised police units deployed in Marikana during labour unrest were given the means to kill striking miners, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday.
Dumisa Ntsebeza, for the families of the dead miners, said the special task force, the national intervention unit and tactical response team were armed with live ammunition only when they embarked on the operation to disperse Lonmin platinum workers.
Ntsebeza said it would be submitted that the police knew the specialised units would use the live ammunition, as they had been trained to do so.
He said the families of the victims would not accept that the killings were unplanned.
“The families of the deceased mineworkers are not in a position to accept that the deaths... (were) something unexpected,” he said.
Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who headed the police's tactical response team during the unrest, denied that the use of live ammunition was part of the police's plan.
Ntsebeza concluded his cross-examination.
The commission, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 44 people during the wage-related unrest last year.
Police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers in Marikana on August 16. Ten people, including two police officers, were killed in the preceding week. - Sapa