AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER
THE South African government has paid over R176-million to compensate the families of those who were killed in the August 6, 2012 Marikana massacre, Police Minister Bheki Cele has disclosed.
A total of 34 mine workers were shot and killed in clashes between striking mine workers and the police.
Cele made the announcement when he released a report compiled by a panel of experts on the reforms the SA Police Service should undergo following the massacre, which ranks as the worst attack on civilians by the police in a post apartheid SA.
The minister disclosed that a panel of experts has made 136 recommendations and said the SAPS had already started to implement some of them. “While it has taken some to release this vital report, we want to assure South Africans that accountability is in motion,” he said, adding that legislative reforms to deal with systematic problems in governance, leadership and accountability had also started.
He said several interventions have already been implemented to improve public order policing. These include spending R598-million to resource and capacitate the public order police unit with communication tools such as two way radios, loud hailers, video cameras and public address systems.
Cele said the panel had submitted a detailed review of the SAPS code of conduct, discipline, training, recruitment and competency.
He said one of the major recommendations, regarding the use of automatic rifles in crowd control, has been incorporated into legislation which will soon be tabled in Parliament. The SAPS Act Amendment Bill gives assurances that no automatic rifles may be used in crowd control management. “The bill will also address matters of vetting and integrity testing for those employed under the SAPS Act, including municipal police,” Cele said.
- Four senior police officers were yesterday acquitted on charges relating to the Marikana Massacre. General William Mpembe, a former deputy police commissioner in the North West, Brigadier Jacobus van Zyl, Brigadier Dingaan Madoda and Lieutentant-Colonel Oup Pule were found not guilty on charges of defeating the ends of justice for allegedly concealing information about the death of Modisaotsile van Wyk Segalala, who died in a police van.