Marikana inquiry enters third day

Published Oct 3, 2012

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Johannesburg - The judicial inquiry into the shooting at Lonmin's Marikana mine enters its third day on Wednesday.

The commission is scheduled to hear oral evidence at the Rustenburg Civic Centre.

On Tuesday, the commission's chairperson - retired judge Ian Farlam - and his team visited the area where 34 miners were killed and 78 were wounded.

They were shot by police who opened fire while trying to disperse a group of striking protesters near the mine on August 16.

Commissioners also visited other places deemed important to the inquiry.

These included hostels, formal mine housing, informal settlements and the hospital where wounded miners were taken after the shooting.

During an inspection of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) office and its surrounding areas, an unidentified mineworker told Farlam that the union's members had shot at protesters.

Speaking through a translator, he told Farlam that miners were marching on the road behind the local police satellite office to NUM's office on August 11.

On the way, NUM members confronted and shot at them, he said. Two workers were killed.

The inspectors also visited the area where a policeman was hacked to death. - Sapa

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