Marikana Shootings Farlam Commission Thread

[Datura]

Watched it again. Looks like the bodies were gathered. *shrugs*

 

[ToxicBunny]

And information gathered after the attack. Read the longer article I posted, people were shot in that Koppie, whether it was police or 'turd forces' that is what is still up for debate.

I'm not necessarily denying that stuff happened at that Koppie..

What I am saying is that video proves nothing, shows nothing new and just has a completely sensationalist voice overlay that makes conclusions based on absolutely nothing.

 

[Kornhub]

NUM handed weapons to members

Rustenburg - The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) provided weapons so its members could protect themselves at Marikana, the Farlam commission of inquiry heard on Tuesday.

NUM member and Lonmin employee Saziso Gegeleza testified on the events of August 11, when striking workers tried to attack the union's office at the Lonmin platinum mine in the North West.

Karl Tip, for NUM, asked him if there were usually weapons kept at the NUM offices, to which he replied: “No”.

Gegeleza said NUM shop stewards had confiscated the weapons from striking miners.

He said NUM western platinum branch secretary Daluvuyo Bongo handed out weapons as they heard a group of strikers were heading towards the office to burn it down.

“I was given a knobkerrie and a spear.”

He went on to explain how a large group of strikers neared the office. They threw stones and shouted: “Here are these dogs”.

“They were so aggressive and they came towards the office running.”

Gegeleza said the group had sticks, knobkerries, pangas and spears.

“I had fear. I was afraid, but I wanted to protect my life as well as the offices of the NUM.”

He said just as the two groups were about to meet gunshots were fired and the strikers retreated. He did not know who fired the gun.

“We chased them and they ran towards the hostel.”

He said they chased after the strikers to prevent them from planning another attack.

Gegeleza testified how he saw a man, who he believed was injured, crawling on the ground, but did not approach him.

He said he found out during the commission's inspection in loco at the NUM's office on October 2 that two strikers were killed on August 11.

Tip asked him if he ever saw any bodies in the vicinity.

“No I never saw them.”

He was testifying before the commission which is probing the deaths of 44 people at Lonmin's Marikana mine in August 2012.

On August 16, 34 striking mineworkers were shot dead and 78 wounded when police opened fire while trying to disperse a group gathered on a hill near the mine.

In the preceding week, 10 people, including two police officers and the two security guards, were hacked to death.

The commission continues in Rustenburg. - Sapa

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-afr...ded-weapons-to-members-1.1460668#.UQfr4mfDsbs

 

[Redeemed]

'Police rounded us up before shooting'

Feb 21, 2013

POLICE had surrounded and closed off all exits with barbed wire before killing 34 striking miners gathered at a koppie near Lonmin's Marikana mine in the North West, a witness said yesterday.

WITNESS: Siphethe Phatsha from Eastern Cape at the Marikana Commission of Inquiry relives the day 34 miners were killed. PHOTOs: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
ON THE MEND: Screen grab of Siphethe Phatsha recuperating in hospital after he was shot in the foot during the Marikana strike.
RELATED ARTICLES

Footage taken during President Jacob Zuma's hospital visit to injured miners supports 43-year-old Siphethe Phatsha's claim.

Two other miners explained to Zuma how they were blocked off with razor wire like baboons as they scrambled to find a way out.

Zuma, who undertook the visit a few days after the shooting, listened attentively as the injured miners told how other miners were killed in cold blood as they hid or surrendered.

Phatsha denied that miners attacked police as has been suggested by, among others, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega.

"That was not like that. We never attacked anyone," Phatsha said.

He recalled how police allegedly cordoned off all exits around the kraal and used teargas and water cannons on fleeing miners before gunning them down.

"We were trying to run towards the Nkaneng settlement, but they had already closed all openings with barbed wire," Phatsha, who is advocate Dali Mpofu's third witness, said.

He said this happened shortly after Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa had left the koppie after his pleas for workers to go home fell on deaf ears. Phatsha, who at the time was carrying a sharpened iron rod and a panga, lost his toe after he was shot in the foot.

Families and widows of the dead miners silently wept quietly as the video in which police opened fire on miners beamed on monitors at the Rustenburg Civic Centre, where the commission of inquiry is sitting.

Phatsha's cross-examination continues.

Marikana massacre testimony.

 

[ToxicBunny]

No, you retards didn't attack anyone.. You just were in a group armed with panga's and such advancing on the police in a threatening manor whilst members of the group fired live rounds from guns at the police..

Thats not attacking at all.

 

[LazyLion]

Two other miners explained to Zuma how they were blocked off with razor wire like baboons as they scrambled to find a way out.

I thought we were not allowed to liken people of colour to primates???? Isn't that racist?

 

[Devill]

"That was not like that. We never attacked anyone," Phatsha said.

:erm: Yes the police officers/ security guards that died, fell down and hit themselves with pangas / knives / blunt objects.....

 

[House]

Also, it would have been difficult shooting all of you if you were scattered about, so deal with it.

 

[daveza]

Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union president Joseph Mathunjwa ...... who at the time was carrying a sharpened iron rod and a panga,

I really don't know why money and resources are being wasted on this inquiry - nor why this guy isn't behind bars.

 

[Crowley]

:erm: Yes the police officers/ security guards that died, fell down and hit themselves with pangas / knives / blunt objects.....

and them set themselves alight.

 

[marine1]

God is this crap still going on?

 

[grok]

Somebody needs to pay a visit to that sangoma, he sold you crap if simple barbed wire > his bullet-melting muti.

 

[Africaner]

No, you retards didn't attack anyone.. You just were in a group armed with panga's and such advancing on the police in a threatening manor whilst members of the group fired live rounds from guns at the police..

Thats not attacking at all.

At first I too was very much "with the police" and against the people or idiots or savages or whatever some of you want to call them. After all, this entire issue is very much embarrassing for our beloved South Africa. But now I have more and more second thoughts. I ask myself why the fiercest supporters of this carnage happen to be the ones who where not within 100+ km of the happenings. Clearly 2 dimensional, hand picked videos, can only convey that much info. It will be interesting to see if any of the killers will ever be brought to justice. Very sad state of affairs indeed.

 

[STS]

At first I too was very much "with the police" and against the people or idiots or savages or whatever some of you want to call them. After all, this entire issue is very much embarrassing for our beloved South Africa. But now I have more and more second thoughts. I ask myself why the fiercest supporters of this carnage happen to be the ones who where not within 100+ km of the happenings. Clearly 2 dimensional, hand picked videos, can only convey that much info. It will be interesting to see if any of the killers will ever be brought to justice. Very sad state of affairs indeed.

the "killers" were law enforcement who were very likely to have been killed themselves. they were not cornered off and even if they were, they could have raised their hands to their head or laid on the ground. you do yourself no favours runnign aroudn with weapons in your hand, just like you do yourself no favours when you shoot first and call out "who's there" afterwards. it's idiocy.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Ja nee.
Wonder why they went there if they weren't expecting to get shot at.

Maybe they'll learn not to take a panga to a gunfight next time.

They made numerous extremely violent threats in the days preceding the shooting, as well. They're just bitter their bluff got called.

 

[Kornhub]

Marikana miners burnt sheep alive in ritual

Rustenburg - A group of striking mine workers gathered near a river on a dark night to undergo a series of rituals that would make it impossible for bullets to penetrate their bodies when fired at.

This was evidence led before the Marikana Commission of Inquiry by police lawyer Ishmael Semenya during cross-examination of mine worker Siphethe Phatsha, a survivor of the shooting on 16 August that left 34 people dead.

The miners, under the supervision of a medicine man, bathed in the river, then put two sheep, one black and another white, in a fire while they were still alive.

The ashes from the fire were then rubbed into incisions made on their ears by the medicine man. To illustrate that the ritual had the required effect, bullets were fired at a box and didn’t penetrate it.

The commission is investigating the circumstances that led to the deaths of 44 people who were killed violently during a strike by rock-drill operators employed by platinum mining giant Lonmin.

Semenya said a witness, known as Mr X, was going to present the above evidence before the commission.

Different sources have alluded to the presence of a medicine man who conducted rituals on the striking mine workers, which convinced them they would be invincible.

The commission has also seen video footage and aerial photographs of naked men standing in line near the koppie, being sprinkled with a liquid substance believed to be muti. Semenya is arguing that Phatsha and his group of armed strikers had declared war against the police.

Phatsha denied any knowledge of the rituals, saying he was not present when they were conducted.

He was earlier shown a video clip of him seated among a group of armed men who were gathered at a koppie near where the shooting took place.

Semenya argued that there were two distinct groups of the striking workers, one which gathered on the koppie, and another, a militant and armed group, sat in the front.

Phatsha said there were no distinct groups, arguing that they were merely Lonmin employees who wanted money from their employer.

The hearing continues.


- City Press

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Marikana-miners-burnt-sheep-alive-in-ritual-20130225

:wtf:

 

[thestaggy]

Knobheads.

 

[LCBXX]

I hope they got their money back...

 

[Ashblonde]

I don't see how is physically, or medically possible for anyone to be able to withstand bullets. Unless of course they're talking about a "water gunnetjie"...lol.

The part where they illustrate on a box that the muti does make it inpenetrable for bullets raises my curiosity....why not take one of the participants?? Illustrate it that way.

 

[Ashblonde]

Was it perhaps "blanks" that were fired to create an illusion coz that would be smart to be able to convince a group of people fascinated by the thought of being invincible. Movie special effects.