2012-10-01 14:56:01

Inquiry into S African killings begins


(Vatican Radio) An official inquiry into the killings of dozens of people near a South African platinum mine began Monday even as labour unrest continued with workers at other mines as well as truck drivers continuing protests over pay.

The inquiry focuses on violence at a Lonmin PLC platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg. On Aug. 16 police opened fire on demonstrating strikers, killing 34 and wounding 78. Around a dozen people died on other days at Marikana. The Marikana commission of inquiry, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, will determine the roles played by the police, Lonmin, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. It will also determine whether any of those investigated could have put measures into place to prevent the violence.

“It’s going to be a landmark moment, this inquiry, for South Africa’s democracy, because of its context and of its timing.” said Gunter Simmermacher, the editor of South Africa’s leading Catholic weekly, The Southern Cross. “It comes just as the campaign for the election of the leadership of the ruling African National Congress officially opens.”

He says, “This campaign within the ANC is a very bitter contest. We are talking about two sides that are very distinctive in their expectations for South Africa, and practically polar opposites vying for power within the ANC.”

The violence at South Africa’s minds is a factor in that campaign: “The faction that challenging President Jacob Zuma is blaming the president for the August 16 shootings at Marikana and they’re using the discontent about that shooting on the grass roots level in order to mobilise support against Zuma.”

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