Durban - The SAPS has paid out over R176 million to the families of the 34 mineworkers killed in the Marikana tragedy in 2012.
Police Minister Bheki Cele made the announcement on Monday morning during the release of a report by a panel of experts tasked with looking into policing and crowd management as part of the recommendations made by the Farlam Commission.
Cele said that R18m-worth of civil claims were yet to be finalised.
“This mass shooting of 34 mineworkers has certainly forced the SAPS to correct where it went wrong,” Cele said.
The Marikana Commission of Inquiry, chaired by retired Judge Ian Farlam, looked into the day’s events and presented a report with findings and recommendations.
A panel of experts was then appointed by the Cabinet in 2016, steered by the late Judge David Sakelene Vusimuzi Ntshangase.
The panel sought to analyse the recommendations in line with the strategic imperatives of the National Development Plan.
The panel’s terms of reference included strategy and policy, public order policing processes and procedures, professionalisation and demilitarisation of the police, and accountability and transparency in all SAPS operations.
The panel put forward a detailed programme for the professionalisation of the SAPS for reforms in crowd management.
The review of the SAPS code of conduct, and issues of discipline, training and recruitment, as well as competency, are also contained in the panel’s findings.
In addition, the panel sought to give advice on the approaches and possible policy interventions in this regard.
All this is contained in the 596-page report titled “Policing and Crowd Management”, which is available in full on the SAPS website.
Political Bureau