Implementation of the recommendations of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the Marikana massacre was being taken seriously by the government‚ President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday.

He gave the assurance in a statement issued on the anniversary of the massacre in which 44 people were killed – 34 of them allegedly by police – during a violent unprotected strike at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine near Rustenburg in North West province three years ago.  

Saying he had received responses from the National Police Commissioner and the affected Cabinet Ministers and was considering their responses‚ President Zuma urged that “government be given space to work on a comprehensive implementation process”.

The President said he would convene a meeting on September 8 of the Mining Sector National Consultative Forum‚ which brings

together government‚ business and labour to discuss the implementation of the Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry.

The agreement was entered into by government‚ organised business and organised labour in October 2013 as a collective response to the Marikana tragedy.

The forum‚ managed and coordinated by the Department of Mineral Resources‚ looks at issues of promoting the rule of law and stability‚ strengthening labour relations‚ improving working and living conditions and supporting the growth of the mining industry.

The meeting is being planned during a difficult period for the mining sector economically when many mines in the gold and platinum sectors are running at a loss and also the difficulties in the steel sector.

President Zuma also said he was making good on his undertaking made in the State of the Nation Address to launch a mining version of Operation Phakisa – the integrated delivery system currently being rolled out in the health and oceans economy sectors.

The matter would be discussed further when the National Consultative Forum on the Mining Sector meets next month.

President Zuma called for unity and dignity as the country remembered those who had died in the violence at Marikana in August 2012.

“This day must unite all of us as South Africans. Nobody supports the horrendous loss of life that occurred in Marikana. We remember all who lost their lives including those who were killed before and after the 16th of August. All lives are equal and important. We urge all South Africans to keep their families in their thoughts and prayers today.

“As government‚ we stand with all the people of Marikana and the people of the Eastern Cape from where many of those who died came. We also stand with all the people of South Africa as well‚ who were horrified and shocked by the tragedy that unfolded in Marikana.

“We must commit ourselves to ensuring that never again would a strike turn so violent as to lead to such a senseless loss of life in a free and democratic South Africa‚” President Zuma

said.

Presient Zuma announced last month that the government had committed R18 billion to improve the socio-economic conditions of distressed mining communities across the country‚ coordinated by the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on the Revitalisation of Distressed Mining Communities‚ which was established in 2012.

The IMC coordinates the work of government departments in responding to the Marikana tragedy and is led by the Department of Planning‚ Monitoring and Evaluation.