Case against Marikana miners postponed
The case against 19 murder-accused Marikana mineworkers was postponed on Monday in the North West High Court in Mahikeng, the National Prosecuting Authority said.
North West region spokesperson Frank Lesenyego said the case was postponed to November 7 for a pre-trial conference to allow the National Director of Public Prosecutions time to look at the representations submitted by the lawyers for the accused.
The purpose of the pre–trial conference was to arrange the date of the trial, to determine the confirmation that legal representation has been appointed or if there are any formal admissionss which the State had to secure and to determine if there were any pleas to tender before the commencement of the trial.
The NPA charged 19 miners with murder, attempted murder, malicious damage to property as well as unlawful possession of firearm and ammunition for their part in the deaths of 10 people between August 10, 2012 to August 15, 2012.
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The police gunned down 34 mineworkers on August 16, 2012, during a violent wage strike at the Lonmin mine operations in Marikana near Rustenburg in North West. Ten other people including two Lonmin security guards and two policemen were killed a week earlier. The policemen and security guards were hacked to death by striking mineworkers.