Tragedy indicates need for deeper healing - report

THE Marikana tragedy points to a need for a more democratised police service, civil society organisations argued in Johannesburg on Friday.

This was the view supported by a study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) in collaboration with the South African Human Rights Commission.

The report, tabled at a round-table discussion on Marikana in Johannesburg on Friday, questions whether South Africa's police have made a proper transition from a police force to a police service.

"Reactionary violence and disproportionate use of force by the police occurs too often in South Africa and mirrors police tactics used before the transition to democracy," the study states.

The discussion was also aimed at identifying possible interventions or collaborations to ensure there is no repeat of that fateful day on August 16, when 34 striking miners were shot dead by police at Lonmin's Marikana mine in the North West.

The study recommends a collaborative effort in resolving the underlying factors at the mine (inequalities, inadequate service delivery and tenuous labour relations) that led to the tragedy.

CSVR director Delphine Serumaga said: "These things [violence] happen on a daily basis but we are not addressing it. We need to address the socio-economic aspect.

"We assumed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission would do the job and that everything on paper will make it happen, but it's not [the case]."

The report supports claims of manslaughter, stating that those interviewed by officials at Marikana spoke of how a unit of "soldiers" - probably members of the police's Tactical Response Team (TRT) - stood opposite the group of regular uniformed police and fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters from behind. This forced them to run towards the police.

There have been different versions of what unfolded at the mine: that miners were slaughtered by police officers, who also drove Nyalas over them, or that panicking police acted in self-defence when miners charged at them.

This is still to be determined by a judicial commission appointed by President Jacob Zuma.

During the confrontation 78 miners were injured while 270 have been arrested and are facing murder charges, in a move that has sparked anger among ANC politicians,

The study reveals protesters were not charging at the police recklessly, but were fleeing the TRT and its use of riot control weapons.

This, it says, points to a need to create space for healing and transformation in Marikana.