As South Africa marks the anniversary of the Marikana massacre on Friday, which claimed the lives of 34 miners 12 years ago, a legal tussle is looming between the government and a public interest law centre representing the families of the miners.
The Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (Seri), which is representing the miners’ families, is gearing up to institute a civil claim suit for constitutional damages. Scores of some of the miners families are yet to be compensated.
This week, Seri said the Office of the Solicitor-General had claimed to have settled about R71 million in loss of support to 34 of the families, but of the 315 claimants, about 129 people have received nothing.
The R71m formed part of the R330m the Solicitor-General reported to have been paid as at last year.
Seri said among those affected are 11 members of miner Thobile Mpumza’s family.
It also said the state had reduced addressing the Marikana massacre to a purely financial exercise.
“Having failed to reach a settlement on the outstanding pleas of the family’s civil claims, the matter will be argued before the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria,” said Seri in a statement.
Seri executive director Nomzamo Zondo confirmed that a civil claim was being instituted.
Zondo said the state’s actions since 2012 had fundamentally altered the families’ lives with disruption, loss and denial.
“Each year, the families are re-traumatised without accountability, redress, and meaningful acknowledgement of the massacre by the state,” she said.
Zondo accused the government of not wanting to compensate for the emotional impact the deaths of the miners caused to their dependants apart from the loss of financial support paid out by Lonmin Mine.
The Office of the Solicitor-General did not respond when offered an opportunity to comment on specified questions.
Instead, communications chief director Kgalalelo Masibi blamed a colleague for failing to approach the relevant section to get a draft response.
“There was a lapse. I am unable to say what it is.
“I don’t know where the lapse occurred,” Masibi said.
Cape Times