Rustenburg - Police officials had labelled last year's Marikana unrest as an “Amcu unrest”, the Farlam Commission heard on Friday.
Amcu lawyer Heidi Barnes said police documents spoke of “clashes between Amcu and security guards” and “clashes between Amcu and police.”
She was cross-examining Maj-Gen Charl Annandale, who headed the police tactical response team during the unrest.
Annandale agreed that the Marikana unrest was not just wage-related but also based on clashes between Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members.
Barnes pointed out that during a meeting with police on August 13 2012, Lonmin said the strikers were faceless people.
“They were not even sure whether these people were employed by Lonmin,” said Barnes.
Annandale said he learnt from police intelligence officers Maj-Gen William Mpembe and Brigadier Adriaan Calitz and Lonmin officials that those involved in the unrest and those injured were Amcu members.
The commission, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam, is investigating the deaths of 44 people killed in the unrest last year.
Police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers in Marikana on August 16. Ten people, including two police officers, were killed in the preceding week.
Sapa