Johannesburg - As miners and their families prepared to watch the live broadcast of President Jacob Zuma reading out a summary of the long-awaited Marikana Report at Lonmin’s platinum mine offices, Marikana was load-shed.
During the broadcast, they could not hear or see Zuma.
“Our clients were extremely disappointed because they were unable to listen to or watch the live feed. They missed it all,” said Kathleen Hardy, the legal representative of 36 of the affected families.
Supporters of the mineworkers criticised Zuma for insufficient regard for the victims and for glossing over the more hard-hitting aspects of the report against the police, and the commission was criticised by victim supporters for absolving the government.
“Despite an understanding that lawyers of the families of those slain would be given 48 hours’ notice to prepare, distressingly, this did not happen,” said Rehad Desai of the Marikana Support Campaign.
“This behaviour showed no regard for the victims, many of whom attended the commission day after day and have anticipated this day for almost three years.
“Sufficient evidence was presented before the commission to determine that both these senior police commissioners are bloody-minded, acted in collusion with Lonmin, are incompetent and therefore not fit to hold office,” he said.
Desai called the exoneration of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, former minister of police Nathi Mthethwa and former minister of mineral resources Susan Shabangu “the most shocking finding of all”.
United Front national secretary Mazibuko Jara said the report did not bring justice to the victims.
He said Zuma’s failure to even give the victims and their families enough notice of the report’s release was “callous”.
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They tried to listen with cellphones and a laptop and they couldn’t get a feed. They couldn’t even access a link to the report.
“So many people across the country were able to listen to that, but those directly affected by Marikana weren’t.”
At 1pm on Thursday, the Presidency indicated that Zuma would release the report at 7pm on SABC.
“It’s disrespectful that no notice was given to them so they could make the necessary arrangements and prepare themselves for it,” said Hardy.
“They’re looking for a sense of closure; they’ve been waiting for this report for a long time. They’ve placed a lot of hope in it and want to know who’s going to be held responsible for the death of their loved ones
.”
Meanwhile police management threw a shield of silence around disgraced national commissioner General Riah Phiyega amid calls for her suspension pending a further inquiry and possible criminal charges.
Institute for Security Studies policing expert Gareth Newham said there were no surprises in the Marikana report and the most damaging findings were against police management, including Phiyega.
“I can’t see her possibly surviving,” said Newham, calling for Zuma to suspend her immediately.
The commission’s report recommended an inquiry into Phiyega’s fitness to hold office. She could also face criminal charges, as the report called for the National Prosecuting Authority to investigate the police’s role in the shootings.
On Friday morning Phiyega’s office confirmed she had indeed “received a letter” from Zuma regarding the commission’s findings.
“The president has invited General Phiyega to respond by no later than July 31.”
The South African Policing Union (Sapu) welcomed the commission’s recommendation for an inquiry.
“This recommendation vindicates what Sapu has been calling for since Ms Phiyega was appointed,” said Sapu general secretary Oscar Skommere.
“Our members’ morale is at its lowest because of her poor leadership capability. While we do not celebrate her downfall that is near, we are of the view that her departure would afford the SAPS an opportunity to regroup.”
The commission found Phiyega didn’t understand her constitutional responsibilities, and she had been dishonest both to the public and the commission by leading the cover-up after the massacre.
Newham said the inquiry into Phiyega’s fitness was the legally correct way of getting her fired.
He felt that if the SAPS’s operational commanders had been allowed to do their job without interference from their commanders, who took “irrelevant political considerations” into account, the massacre would have been avoided.
Police ended up ignoring their own plans and warnings from senior officers and deployed heavily armed police into a situation they expected would result in bloodshed.
The Star