Farlam commission findings ‘terrible’, says lawyer as SA marks 10 years since Marikana massacre
British criminal lawyer Jim Nichol, who acted for the families on the Marikana case, says the findings of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the massacre were “terrible”.
"The whole thing was orchestrated by Lonmin management. You can see it in the emails, in the telephone calls and you can hear it in the conversations. Enough evidence is before the commission."
Today marks exactly 10 years since 34 striking Lonmin miners were shot dead by police in Rustenburg.
Nichol says the commission sat for 300 days at a cost of over R150 million.
"Lonmin are the people who are interested, who are making the profit. They want to stop the strike, they want to take the leadership of the strikeout. But they didn't do that so they got to have a plan B,” he says, explaining why police opted to abandon a non-violent approach when dealing with the workers.
Nichol was speaking after the screening of the documentary "Miners Shot Down" which reflects on the roles of government ministers, and even President Cyril Ramaphosa, who at the time was a director at Lonmin.
He says it was no surprise the commission reached the findings it did.
Sadly, the slain miners and their families were left without justice.
"The commission should have concluded with the following finding that the tragic events that occurred during the period 10 to 16 August 2012. Orignated from a conspiracy between Lonmin and the state. They crushed the mineworkers, putting profit before the living wage that mineworkers were entitled to."
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