GOOD Media Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
16 August 2023
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 16 August 2023 we will prevent similar atrocities in future and build a more just society.
On that day 34 miners lost their lives when police opened fire on striking Lonmin workers. Another 78 mineworkers were seriously injured.
In the days leading up to the deadly incident, 10 other people lost their lives, including two police officers.
It was a drawn-out moment of unbridled violence that would have made apartheid-era police proud.
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.
Its report, released 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.
The commission recommended the NPA investigate “members of the South African Police Services, who in firing shots at the strikers may have exceeded the bounds of self and private defence” and “the possible liability of senior officers in the South African Police Services”.
However, besides Phiyega, members of the police and their leadership have never been held to account.
In fact, it is only the Lonmin mineworkers, accused of the murders in the days preceding the massacre, who have seen the inside of a courtroom.
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.
Across the country reports of police abusing their powers, emboldened by political figures, continue to make headlines.
Just last month, the violent assault of members of the public by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s VIP protection unit was caught on camera.
In the recent Cape Town taxi stay away, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith was accused of abusing his powers and taking the law into his own hands.
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.
In March 2022, in response to my parliamentary questions, the Minister of Police, Bheki 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 (SIU) 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.
In July 2023, in a written response to my parliamentary questions, the Minister of Justice confirmed that Gauteng’s Crime Prevention Wardens had no legal authority and that Section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Act did not allow for municipalities to establish criminal investigation units.
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.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 082 518 3264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samantha Jackson, GOOD Acting Media Manager
Cell: 083 550 9875
Email: media@forgood.org.za