‘Apologise or face the courts’ – Mpofu warns Ramaphosa over Marikana massacre

President Cyril Ramaphosa must apologise and compensate the families of Marikana victims before month end or face the court, advocate Dali Mpofu SC said during the eighth commemoration of the massacre.

Advocate Dali Mpofu SC said:”Actually, the issue of an apology is more important to them than the money because they want closure. We appeal to Ramaphosa to stop taking technical points in his capacity as president of the country.

“I have been asked by the people we represent to say that we are giving them until end of August; if they have not compensated these people, we are going to see what we do about that.

“We are also giving him personally until the end of August to ensure he engages with our attorney to ensure that they stop taking these technical points.”

He said Ramaphosa has been hiding behind technicalities in court, with his legal representation arguing that there is no case for an apology.

During his campaign for the ANC presidency, Ramaphosa apologised for the manner in which the massacre unfolded.

He promised to visit the area to apologise to victims.

On the eve of the Marikana massacre, he said in an email discussion between government officials and Lonmin management that the events around the strike were “plainly dastardly criminal acts and must be characterised as such”.

He had also allegedly said concomitant action was needed to address the continuing strike, Mpofu previously said in 2012.

Ramaphosa was a non-executive director at Lonmin mines at the time.

On Sunday, eight years later, Mpofu warned that, should Ramaphosa fail to apologise, he has assembled a team of advocates, which includes Dumisa Ntsebeza SC and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC.

“Even that is being generous, the fact that our clients are giving them two weeks.”

“We want a human approach to this. For us, as Africans, we have a saying that ityala aliboli (a crime doesn’t go stale) – it might take us 20 years, but this is not going away.”

Mpofu said the government has accepted liability, all they need to do is pay.

He added: “The disgrace that these people have not been compensated after eight years. What are they thinking people are surviving on? People are walking around with bullets in their heads and limbs for eight years.

“Some have died, some their children don’t know what is coming next. What kind of black government is this? What kind of Africans are these who are so careless and are unable to say ‘sorry let’s get around the table’. All they want is emotional closure and the respect to their dignity.”

He said the government has had its knee on the necks of Marikana massacre families, much like what led to US citizen George Floyd’s death. He added, ‘they can’t breathe’.

In a statement, the EFF, of which Mpofu is the former chairperson, called for Ramaphosa to account for his role in the murder of the workers of Marikana.

“He, today, sits as a President of South Africa with blood on his hands, orchestrating yet another massacre through the manipulation of Covid-19 data, once again in service of capital interests.”

The EFF said not much had changed for the mining communities in the North West, adding that these communities remain sites of squalor and under-development, although they produce incredible wealth with the resources mined on their land.

“The families of the miners whose lives were taken remain destitute, having lost bread-winners, and their families are torn apart by grief.

“The women of Marikana, who sustained the struggle of Marikana workers behind the scenes, remain forgotten. It is these women who kept and continue to keep the Marikana community alive, who look after children, who prepared meals, and remained the anchors of the strikes across the platinum-belt.

“They are the ones who continue to demand justice for the slain Marikana workers and took up the picks and shovels underground after having lost their husbands, brothers and sons,” the EFF said.

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