South African President Jacob Zuma named a judicial commission Thursday to carry out a wide-ranging inquiry into clashes that killed 44 people during a miners' strike and the labour conditions behind the unrest. Zuma had announced the inquiry on the day after the August 16 police crackdown, when 34 workers were gunned down following inter-union clashes that earlier had killed 10 people at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine.
Police are already investigating the killings, and the independent police watchdog is probing the conduct of the officers. But Zuma's commission, appointed with unusual speed, has been granted broad purview to examine the police, mining giant Lonmin, rival unions, the government and any individuals involved in the violence.
"It has been directed to investigate matters of public, national and international concern rising out of the events in Marikana which led to the deaths of approximately 44 people, the injury of more than 70 persons and the arrest of more than 250 people," Zuma said in televised remarks.
Retired appeals court judge Ian Farlam will head the three-person commission, which also includes two other senior advocates. They have four months to complete their investigation and another month to submit their report. The commission will look not only at security issues, but also at broader concerns about labour policies and working conditions, Zuma said. South Africans on Thursday held nation-wide memorials to commemorate those killed in the unrest, with crestfallen families sobbing and fainting in the dry field next to the mine where their loved ones died.
Mineworkers' strikes have turned increasingly violent this year. A key point of inquiry is the rivalry between the upstart Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) and the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a key ally of Zuma's ruling African National Congress.
But all the players targeted in the probe will have to answer questions on whether they did anything to defuse the tension at the mine before it escalated into violence. The inquiry will investigate any police orders to shoot, and whether the use of force was "reasonable and justifiable", said Zuma. In separate investigations, police are also probing the killings, while the independent police watchdog is looking into the conduct of the officers who opened fire at the crowd that was armed mainly with spears, clubs and machetes. Police insist they fired in self-defence when the crowd opened fire, after teargas, stun grenades, water cannon and rubber bullets failed to break up the strikers.
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