Summary Family members of S. African miners killed at Marikana said they hoped the truth would be revealed
CENTURION, South Africa: (AFP) - Family members of 34 South African miners killed at Marikana said they hoped the truth behind the shooting would be revealed as a two-year probe ended Friday.
The findings will not be released until next year, but evidence put before the inquiry badly tarnished the police claim that they acted in self-defence when they gunned down the striking Lomin miners in August 2012.
”It s been a long journey, but we are very thankful for these two years," said Nosihle Ngweyi, whose husband Michael was killed after being shot twice by police. "We hope the truth will eventually come out."
The August 16 shooting was the worst violence witnessed in South Africa since the advent of democracy in 1994. In the days before, 10 others were killed by some of the strikers, including non-striking miners, security guards, and two police officers who were hacked to death.
The Farlam Commission of Inquiry was established by President Jacob Zuma to investigate the events at Marikana.
It has the power to recommend certain individuals be investigated and criminally charged. Family members of all the victims gathered Friday for an emotional prayer service after the commission adjourned for the final time.
Holding hands, they each spoke the names of their lost relatives, while Pretoria bishop Jo Seoka prayed for the families of the those killed by the strikers to "let their burden go and try to forgive".
In the last week of the commission, the police argued the strikers had acted treacherously by bearing arms against the state. "The South Africa we do not want is one where public dissent is expressed by groups of people bearing weapons and bent on conflict and mayhem," said police lawyer Ishmael Semenya.
"We don t want a South Africa where industrial negotiations that can be resolved through dialogue are left to fester until police intervention is inevitable."
