Cape Town - Parliamentary researchers have told the Portfolio Committee on Police that the events in Marikana that resulted in many lives being lost required police to address “structural or systemic issues” to avoid history repeating itself.
Thembani Mbandlanyana, a researcher for the committee tasked with conducting oversight on police, said this when briefing members of the committee on the findings and recommendations of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry, on Wednesday.
On 26 August 2012, a commission of inquiry was appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate matters of public, national and international concern arising out of the tragic incidents at the Lonmin Mine in Marikana during 11 to 16 August 2012.
About 44 people lost their lives and many others were injured.
The commission was tasked with enquiring into and making findings and recommendations concerning the conduct of Lonmin Plc, the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and other government departments, as well as individuals and groupings.
The President released the report in June.
“The events that happened in Marikana have no place in a democratic society. The events in Marikana speak to the structural or systemic policing issues that need to be addressed in order to avoid a recurrence of such calamity.
“Marikana also speaks to the need of examining issues on ‘the level of how the police organises as an organisation, how it trains its personnel, what it teaches them, to what standards it holds them, how it is managed and who does the managing,” he said.
This comes after the third anniversary of the tragedy on Sunday. Several organisations held a memorial service for all the lives that were lost during the tense labour unrest.
The Farlam Commission recommended that the President appoint an inquiry into the National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega’s fitness to hold office.
The President also said when releasing the report that the commission also recommended that he appoint a panel of experts to revise and amend prescripts that govern public order policing; investigate the world’s best practices without resorting to the use of weapons capable of automatic fire, amongst others.
Mbandlanyana said the findings should be used as an opportunity to reflect and revisit training and operations.
“Specifically, the South African Police Service needs to respond to protests in a fashion that does not result in needless bloodshed and therefore revisiting the training regimes and equipping police officers effectively for crowd control is very important.
“In the spirit of honouring the lives lost in Marikana, the police leadership and the Portfolio Committee on Police might need to pay a particular focus on the “systemic issues” relevant to public order policing and to the deployment of the use of force within SAPS.
“There could be no better way of honouring the lives lost in Marikana other than ensuring that all the Commission’s recommendations are implemented and that justice is served,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
