'via Blog this'
Cyril Ramaphosa's Marikana email batters ANC heavyweight's reputation
Lawyer tells commission investigating
deaths of 34 striking miners of explosive email from struggle stalwart
On the
second day of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry – following a postponement at
the beginning of October – Dali Mpofu, acting on behalf of the miners who were [per Jacob Zuma order were murdered by police on 16 August, presented his opening statement.]
Graphic video shows police open fire on miners - YouTube: 'via Blog this'
He said
that his team's participation in the hearings would be to explore ten themes,
namely:
·
that the
massacre could and should have been avoided;
·
the toxic
collusion between the police and Lonmin or
the state and capital was causative of the massacre;
·
the
massacre exhibited a situation of premeditated murder of defenceless and
powerless poor people;
·
the claims
of self-defence are baseless;
·
what
happened in front of Groot Koppie includes instances of unjustifiable murder;
·
what
happened at Klein Koppie includes cold-blooded executions;
·
who gave
the orders at all levels of government and the police chain of command;
·
that the
demeanour and behaviour of the police showed that they were, inter alia,
motivated by revenge and malice;
·
that the
underlying causes go deeper than the immediate parties in the commission;
·
and that
the decision to charge the protesters with the murder of their fellow
protesters under the so-called doctrine of common purpose was callous,
insensitive and from using the poor as scape-goats.
It was
when Mpofu was elaborating on the second point that he mentioned an email from
ANC national executive committee member and former secretary-general Cyril
Ramaphosa, sent about 24 hours before the 16 August massacre occurred.
"This
(e-mail) was on 15 August at 2.58pm, exactly 24 hours before the people were
mowed down on that mountain. We have e-mails that were being exchanged between
Lonmin management, government ministers (of mineral resources and the police)
and at the centre is a gentleman called Cyril Ramaphosa," Mpofu said.
"He
advanced that what was taking place were criminal acts and must be characterised
as such. In line with this characterisation there needs to be concomitant
action to address the situation.
"The
letter was addressed to a 'Dear Albert of Lonmin'."
Mpofu
continued: "Ramaphosa called for action to be taken against 'these
criminals', whose crime was to seek a wage increase."
"We
are going to get justice, either here or at any other forum, even the
International Criminal Court, where we will lay charges against the police who
shot our people."
Like
George Bizos acting for the Legal Resources Centre, and Dumisa Ntsebeza for the
families of 21 of the deceased, Mpofu said that he would argue that the police were motivated by a
desire to avenge the deaths of their dead colleagues, and not by fear for their
own lives.
"What
happened was premeditated murder of defenceless people. It had been agreed at a
police meeting held on August 16 that 'stage 3' of their plan was going to be
executed and those discussions had gone as far as the police commissioner and
the minister," he said.
The
advocate for the injured and arrested also took umbrage, like Ntsebeza did, to
the allegation by the police's legal representative Ishmael Semenya that they
had had to act to defend their own lives because the protesters were under the
spell of some magic potion. He said that the evidence at the second killing
area was concomitant with that of people fleeing. He also said that he had
testimony of people being shot while surrendering, which did not support the
police's version of events.
"Suggestions
that miners thought they were invisible because of umuthi are racist, backward
and ridiculous," he said.
Ramaphosa's
email is likely to be used by Mpofu to show that the state and Lonmin colluded
in such a way that it strongly influenced the outcome of that fateful day.
Advocates acting for the miners have all already promised to build a picture of
acts of revenge, unlawfulness and extreme force that was over the top and not
at all appropriate for the situation.
Another
damning piece of evidence that may come up is a press releaseissued in the name of Frans Baleni, the
general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers on 13 August, calling
for the deployment of the Special Task Force to Rustenburg and the surrounding
areas.
"We
call for the deployment of a special task force or the SANDF to deal decisively
with the criminal elements in Rustenburg and its surrounding mines,"
Baleni said. "We appeal for the deployment of the Special Task Force as a
matter of urgency before things run out of hand. For months on end we have
argued that the situation in Rustenburg requires special intervention and we
are seeing no difference."
If the
lawyers acting for the miners can show that the decision to deploy specialised
armed units was not the correct one under the circumstances, it will, at the
least, show that both NUM and its former general secretary, now a big
shareholder at Lonmin, helped foment a toxic environment which led to the
deaths of 34 people and the injury of a further 78.
Interestingly,
the timing of Mpofu's speech coincides with news reportsthat several ANC branches are thinking
of nominating Ramaphosa for the position of deputy president to Jacob Zuma,
should the current deputy Kgalema Motlanthe decide to run for the top position.
It would not be surprising to see the email, rather than the branch
announcements, dominate the news agenda in the coming days.
Karabo
Bareng Kgoroeadira, a lawyer acting for the royal family of the Bapo Ba Mogale,
also presented her opening address. The tribe owns the land upon which the
Lonmin mine is situated, and wants to argue that the company has not fulfilled
its promise to provide social and economic investment in the area, but has
rather reneged on its promises and has rather contributed to an infestation of
informal settlements and migrant labourers on tribal lands.
"These
social struggles contributed to the boil which has been simmering around the
mines," she said.
The
inquiry continues.
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