The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The report also took aim at Lonmin for failing to resolve the wage dispute or provide adequate protection for non-striking miners.
“These guys died like flies,” said miner Morris Siyimba during events in August to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the killings.
“That day I was lucky not to be shot.”
Ramaphosa made the comments, his clearest public pronouncements on his role in the tragedy since the public inquiry, in parliament as he responded to lawmakers’ questions on his agenda-setting State of the Nation Address.
Firebrand opposition MP Julius Malema challenged Ramaphosa shortly before he was sworn in as president last week on his response to the massacre at Marikana, telling journalists on Thursday: “Marikana is still waiting.”
In March, the government said it was prepared to pay 1.17 billion rand ($92 million) to cover 652 compensation claims made by families who lost relatives, miners who were injured and those who were unlawfully arrested.
The Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) think-tank has called for fair compensation for those affected, prosecution of police officers who acted unlawfully and reforms to police recruitment and training.
