JOHANNESBURG - Almost a decade after the Marikana Massacre, the families of the 44 men who died that fateful day and in the week leading up to it are still searching for the truth of what exactly happened to them.
The most lethal use of state force in post-apartheid South Africa’s history, the Marikana Massacre and the events leading up to it triggered global outrage.
But 10 years on, the authorities are yet to action the majority of the binding recommendations that were put forward by the Farlam Commission of Inquiry established to probe the tragedy.
Included in these binding recommendations were various investigations into the deaths around which basic questions still linger today.
On Wednesday night, the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri) hosted a panel discussion ahead of the 10-year anniversary, featuring its own Nomzamo Zondo.
She said that all that the families wanted was the truth: "I think, for us, the reason we’ve pursued the criminal prosecutions is because in there lies the details of who did what for what purpose. But the one thing, even with a long commission, we didn’t get, is the truth. We don’t even know stuff about how people died, things that should obviously be in the public domain, we don’t know about those things, and justice for Marikana must mean at least we get that."
She said that it was vital for them to try and find closure: "When I think of even the families, what they said to us is they want to know the truth; we want to know what bullets, whose gun is linked to those bullets. Those issues are important for healing."
