Marikana - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is officially under police investigation for his alleged role in conspiring to kill the Marikana mineworkers in August 2012.
EFF leader Julius Malema on Friday pressed criminal charges against Ramaphosa at the Marikana police station.
Accompanied by his deputy Floyd Shivambu, spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi and EFF secretary Godrich Gardee, Malema spent almost an hour at the police station, opening cases on behalf of the Marikana victims and the 34 families of the dead miners.
EFF supporters had gathered outside the station, chanting songs against President Jacob Zuma and Ramaphosa.
Malema later addressed the crowd and told them that he had opened criminal cases against Lonmin, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, former police minister Nathi Mthethwa, erstwhile North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo, and Susan Shabangu, mineral resources minister at the time of the Marikana massacre.
Ramaphosa was one of the directors at Lonmin during the massacre, but he subsequently resigned his directorship.
North West police spokesman Paul Ramoloko said: “I can confirm that Julius Malema had opened three criminal cases; for murder, conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder against the six suspects.”
He declined to name the six suspects, saying it was still early to disclose such information.
Ramoloko told the Pretoria News that Malema handed over the “documented evidence”. He could not disclose its contents, saying that “it was still early days for the investigation”.
He said that there was a possibility that some of the criminal cases could be referred to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate at a later stage.
Malema also used the opportunity to canvass for voters for the 2016 local government elections, calling for the people to vote for the EFF to take over the Rustenburg municipality. He announced that on July 25 the party would host a rally at Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg.
Miners and EFF supporters expressed a sense of renewed hope after the opening of the criminal cases. “The opening of the case is bringing new hope to me. However, I fear that they might want to keep the information they would get during the course of their investigation under wraps,” said 34-year-old miner Shaun Madikana.
Another miner, Wawa Thulani, 22, said he was filled with hope now that the EFF had opened criminal cases against the politicians.
“The Farlam Commission does not clarify who actually dispatched the police to kill us,” he said.
Malema concluded: “We must respect that people died and cannot sit back and do nothing.
“We want each family to be paid R10 million and every worker must receive R5m.” He added, to loud applause of his audience, that the payments should be made by Lonmin because it could afford to spend millions.
Malema accused Lonmin for having “conspired with police and eventually killed workers”.
He said that the EFF would follow-up on the police investigation every week, saying the police should not be not biased and partisan.
“The EFF does not accept the findings of the Farlam Commission,” he said. “It can’t be correct that the Farlam report had held only Phiyega and Mbombo responsible for the massacre, because they are perceived as the small fish, and let the big fish of the hook.”
He talked about the infamous e-mail Ramaphosa sent to the police commissioner and Shabangu to “take concomitant action” against the strikers at Marikana, hinting it might be the tip of an iceberg.
Pretoria News