Ten years on Marikana Massacre litigation lingers
Apart from the miners that were brutally murdered by police at Marikana on 16 August 2012, the state has been dealing with claims from 48 miners who were either unlawfully detained or injured.
JOHANNESBURG - The office of the solicitor general says it has settled payments for more than half of the outstanding 48 claims in relation to the Marikana massacre.
It’s been 10 years to the day since the miners' wage strike started at Lonmin's platinum mine in Rustenburg.
Since then, the state has been embroiled in settlement battles and has paid out R75 million to the families of the deceased.
Apart from the 34 miners that were brutally murdered by police at Marikana on 16 August 2012, the state has been dealing with claims from 48 miners who were either unlawfully arrested or injured.
The litigation has been in court over the last two weeks.
Solicitor-General Fhedzisani Pandelani has on Wednesday given an update on the negotiations.
"Representatives of the state and representatives of the claimants are as we speak right now in court trying to reach some sort of settlement or alternatively indicating to the deputy judge president that there is no agreement in which case the matter will then be allocated to a judge."
He said at the centre of the disputes is not the merits of each case but the amounts of money each person is legally eligible to receive.
He said Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba has given the parties until the end of this month to settle each matter on a case management basis.
Thereafter, the matter may have to appear before a judge for a legal battle.
