Intro: "South African prosecutors have provisionally dropped murder charges against 270 miners whose colleagues were shot dead by police."

Mourners attended the funeral of Andries Ntsenyeho, who was one of 34 people killed during the Aug. 16 strike, in Johannesburg. (photo: Tj Lemon/European Pressphoto Agency)

South Africa Drops Miners' Murder Charges - For Now

By BBC

03 September 12

South African prosecutors have provisionally dropped murder charges against 270 miners whose colleagues were shot dead by police.

he charges cannot be dismissed formally until the end of the inquiry, but prosecutors said all detained miners would be freed.

Local authorities used a controversial apartheid-era law to accuse the miners of provoking police to open fire.

Miners were demanding a huge pay rise and recognition of a new union.

The killings, at the Marikana mine, owned by Lonmin, shocked the nation.

State prosecutors charged 270 miners with murder under the "common purpose" doctrine.

The rule was used by the white-minority apartheid regime to crack down on its black opponents, and at the time was opposed by the now governing African National Congress.

'Machete Threats'

Lawyers had asked President Jacob Zuma to reverse the decision.

But he said in a statement earlier that he would not intervene in the case.

Acting national director of prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba held a news conference on Sunday to announce the charges would be scrapped.

"Final charges will only be made once all investigations have been completed," she said.

"The murder charges against the current 270 suspects will be formally withdrawn provisionally in court."

She said those whose addresses have been verified by police would be released on Monday, and the rest would remain in custody until their next court appearance on Thursday.

The BBC's South Africa analyst Farouk Chothia says the decision has salvaged some of the government's credibility.

But he says the government will have to make sure that the miners co-operate with the judge-led commission of inquiry that was set up by Mr Zuma to investigate the 16 August shootings.

South African media reports suggest some of the mine workers have decided to hold their own inquiry into the killings, which would create more embarrassment for Mr Zuma, says our correspondent.

On Friday, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said the charges had "induced a sense of shock, panic and confusion" in the public and demanded a report from state prosecutors to explain their rationale.

Police said they opened fire on the strikers at Marikana after being threatened by a crowd of protesters who advanced towards them, armed with machetes.

The 270 miners, six of whom remain in hospital, were arrested during the protests.

They were charged on Thursday, with the prosecutors arguing they were part of the crowd whose actions provoked the police into opening fire.

No police officers have been charged over the deaths because a judicial inquiry and an internal police review are under way, but these are expected to take several months to complete.

The strike turned violent before the police shooting, with the deaths of 10 people including two police officers and two security guards who were hacked to death.

The protests were triggered by demands for a huge pay rise and recognition of a new union.

Talks are continuing to resolve the dispute, which has shut the mine for the past three weeks.

Comments

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+7 # Erdajean 2012-09-03 07:56

Nationalize the mines. End exploitation by foreign owners. ENOUGH of private, foreign family fortunes off the sweat and blood of the natives! Institute profit-sharing for miners with a healthy part of the take going to benefit all South Africans.
Come to think of it, not a bad idea around here, too -- exploit our natural resources, pay our people! Way overdue.

+3 # RLF 2012-09-04 03:33

This is a problem in the US too...the Canadians own many of the mines in the US and pay almost nothing for the mineral rights.

+3 # qasee 2012-09-04 11:17

"Local authorities used a controversial apartheid-era law to accuse the miners of provoking police to open fire. State prosecutors charged 270 miners with murder under the "common purpose" doctrine."
Gee, I wonder when the US will slip this little rule into there 'National Security' doctrine to continue suppressing any protests?

+3 # dkonstruction 2012-09-04 11:26

The problem is not simply with "foreign owned" mines. The problem is that the ANC abandoned its socialist politics (and economic program) when Apartheid was defeated and it was part of the deal struck with the white ruling class (and international capital as a whole) that, for the most part, their property (including land first and foremost) would not be expropriated and redistributed to the people. While the government reaction to and repression of the strikers is reprehensible it has to be seen in the context of a capitalist economy in which such suppression/rep ression is considered quite "normal." So, yes, we must stand with the strikers and defend their rights but at the same time the question has to once again be raised as to whether further development of a capitalist economy in South Africa and the rest of the continent (or the rest of the planet for that matter) will ever lead to a just economy that works for the 99%.

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