Marikana violence was avoidable, Mahikeng court hears
1 Jun 2021
13 October 2020: Major General William Mpembe, a former provincial commissioner in North West, appears in the high court in Mahikeng during his trial over the death of a striking miner who had died in a police van. (Photograph by Paul Botes)
When the tear gas cleared on 13 August 2012, from the veld near the railway line used to transport platinum from Lonmin’s processing plant at Marikana, five people were dead: two police officers and three striking mineworkers.
It was apparent to the police’s “boots on the ground” the ordinary rank and file who were in the majority of the specialised public order policing unit that inept leadership and an inability to follow basic crowd management procedures had led to the deaths of two of their colleagues. They allegedly blamed the commander in charge, Major General William Mpembe.
Felix Dlangamandla/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Image
A police officer testifying in the murder and attempted murder trial of former North West deputy police commissioner William Mpembe and five other officers remains under oath until July.
The officer is expected to resume his testimony under cross-examination on 19 July.
The trial could not continue on Thursday after defence lawyers stated they needed to study material they would be using to cross-examine the State witness.
Study material used to train Public Order Policing (POP) officers and commanders on crowd management will be the focal point when defence lawyers cross-examine a police officer in the so-called Marikana trial.
A Public Order Policing unit commander is testifying in the murder trial of former North West deputy police commissioner William Mpembe and five other officers.
Felix Dlangamandla/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Image
A Rustenburg POP commander says he took a step back from handling the situation at Lonmin K3 shaft in Marikana.
The officer is testifying in the murder trial of Major-General William Mpembe and five other officers.
He will continue his testimony on Wednesday.
A Public Order Policing (POP) commander testified in the North West High Court in Mahikeng that he took a step back as operational commander at Lonmin K3 shaft in Marikana on 13 August 2012.
The officer told the court he did so because his senior, former provincial deputy police commissioner, Major-General William Mpembe, asked him to step back. Mpembe then proceeded to take the lead.
Felix Dlangamandla/Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty Image
Lawyers concluded cross-examining a police officer in the murder trial of William Mpembe and five other officers.
They grilled the officer on every single detail about the events that happened in Marikana in 2012.
The court heard that striking miners may have ended up with ammunition on the tragic day.
Striking mineworkers may have possibly ended up in possession of 60 rounds of ammunition, which they allegedly stole from an injured police officer on 13 August 2012 at Lonmin K3 shaft in Marikana, defence lawyer Henko Scholtz told the North West High Court.
Scholtz concluded cross-examining the State s witness, Sergeant Benjamin Mahume, by suggesting that he could not deny to the court that his late colleague, Warrant Officer Sello Lepaaku, had an R5 rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition.