Pretoria - Protesters who heckled Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry on Monday will be kicked out, retired Judge Ian Farlam warned.
“If there are further interruptions, I will not hesitate to clear the chamber. Those who want to hear the evidence will do so from the overflow room without being here and wasting our time,” he said.
“This is serious misconduct which cannot be tolerated in any civilised society. No commission can function in the face of misbehaviour of this kind.”
Bodyguards rushed into the Tshwane council chambers, where the inquiry conducts public hearings, on Monday afternoon as the protesters heckled Ramaphosa.
Farlam briefly adjourned the proceedings after the session was brought to a standstill.
The group banged on tables and clapped hands shouting “Ramaphosa must resign” and “blood on his hands”. After a short while Dali Mpofu, for wounded and arrested Marikana miners, managed to calm the protesters.
Farlam said Ramaphosa would only be available on Monday and Tuesday and he had to be allowed to give his evidence.
“Those interrupting the proceedings are in fact impairing the work of this commission. They are preventing us from having the witness fully cross-examined,” he said.
“I want to make one thing absolutely clear. Those people have one more chance to behave themselves. If there are further disruptions, I won't hesitate to clear the chamber.”
Some of the protesters were from the Marikana Support Campaign. Some people in the auditorium wore white T-shirts bearing the words “Buffalo Head killed people in Marikana” and “McCyril the killer”. Some T-shirts had a drawing of a buffalo head.
These were references to Ramaphosa reportedly once unsuccessfully bidding up to R19.5 million for a buffalo cow, and his ownership of the McDonald's franchise in South Africa.
The commission, chaired by Farlam, is investigating the deaths of 44 people during strike-related violence at Lonmin's platinum mining operations at Marikana, near Rustenburg in the North West, in August 2012.
Thirty-four people, mostly striking mineworkers, were shot dead in a clash with police, over 70 were wounded, and over 250 arrested on August 16, 2012. Police were apparently trying to disarm and disperse them.
In the preceding week, 10 people, including two policemen and two Lonmin security guards, were killed.
Sapa