"We wanted the truth from the commission, we wanted the people that were responsible to be charged. We want them to go to jail. Those police are still working while we are suffering without our husbands," said Noluvuyo Noki after President Jacob Zuma released the Marikana report this week. Noki is among the family members of the slain Marikana miners who were left shattered by the findings of the commission of inquiry into the bloodbath at Marikana on August 16 2012.Her husband, known as "the man in the green blanket"- Mgcineni Noki - had been the miners' champion during the days of the strike. He was among the first to be killed that day.story_article_left1The Farlam commission concluded that none of the 718 policemen at the scene could be charged with the murder of the 34 miners. Only charges of attempted murder could be brought, it said.This is despite the fact that 4000 extra rounds of ammunition were ordered, that police had their R5 assault rifles on automatic mode and that 623 rounds were fired during the massacre. Four mortuary vans had been placed on stand-by before the shooting.Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union leader Joseph Mathunjwa - whose union organised the strike - said the commission of inquiry had served only to open old wounds for the injured and the families of those killed."There will be no healing without the truth. Only when the truth is unearthed and is said, that will create an atmosphere for healing. But as it stands, the commission seemingly opened the wounds and poured acid on the wounds," he said.Mathunjwa said the report contained inconsistencies."And then the commission suggests that the workers created the atmosphere for themselves to be massacred ... I find it very outrageous to have such a notion. "Lawyers representing Marikana victims have voiced their unhappiness with some of the findings.Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC said the commission did not achieve anything for the families.full_story_image_hleft1"My great disappointment is, what does this commission [achieve] in the end? It is a commission that has decided nothing. It is inconclusive, no one is held responsible. After 300 days of examination and 30000 pages of evidence, I would have expected something more compelling in the findings."The families haven't been able to say that on the basis of this report we can now be compensated. Now we are going to start the same routine in civil claims because the commission doesn't say what was meant to be said," said Ntsebeza.Zuma has been lambasted for shirking political responsibility for the massacre and for appointing Riah Phiyega as national police commissioner despite her inexperience.Former Cosatu boss Zwelinzima Vavi was scathing, saying Zuma "should answer the obvious question of why he ever appointed a police chief who lacked the skills, training and experience for such a position. It is symptomatic of the practice of 'cadre deployment', which values personal loyalty over qualifications for the job, and he should accept his share of the blame."If Phiyega's hands are dripping with the workers' blood, so are those of the president who employed her, very well aware that she had neither experience nor skills to head police operations."story_article_right2Retired judge Ian Farlam's report may have come as a blow to the families who had hoped that the commission would result in the police facing murder charges, but the police are not off the hook.The report states: "R5 bullets tend to disintegrate when entering the body of a victim. This is what happened at Marikana. As a result it is not possible on the ballistic evidence to connect any member who shot at Marikana with any person who died."In the case of certain shooters there is prima facie evidence that the members concerned may well have been guilty of attempted murder, but it cannot be said that any shooter is guilty of murder because it cannot be shown which of the shooters actually killed anyone. In the case of those shooters who exceeded the bounds of self- or private defence, the most they can be convicted of is attempted murder."Johannesburg advocate Wim Trengove SC said that although murder charges could not be pursued, attempted murder was also a very serious charge.full_story_image_hleft4"They can be sent to jail for a long time. If you're a policeman and you've been charged with attempted murder by opening fire on defenceless civilians, without justification, then it's a very serious crime," he said.Adding to the pain of the families, who have had to wait almost three years for answers, is the stark reality that police investigators would have to start from scratch as the commission's findings are not binding in a court of law.story_article_left3Veteran lawyer advocate George Bizos SC said the road to justice for the families would be a long one."This is going to be a difficult task again for the families because to deal with hundreds of cases is going to take years."We can't have families waiting for years to get appropriate compensation. It would be wise if Lonmin and the police could come to an agreement on who should pay what," said Bizos.Kathleen Hardy, a senior attorney at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa - a public interest law centre - was among the lawyers briefing the families on the report's findings on Friday at the offices of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.Distraught family members broke down, shocked and disappointed by the findings . Some left the conference room for a breath of fresh air. G rief counsellors comforted others.Hardy said: "The families are struggling to understand the conclusion made based on the evidence they saw being led."This August, which will mark the third anniversary of the tragedy, will also be the month when the families bring civil claims against the South African Police Service . Hardy said they were considering adding Lonmin to the suit.full_story_image_hleft3She said they were waiting to see what the National Prosecuting Authority would do, but hoped it would pursue criminal prosecutions.The miners' families are not the only ones disappointed. Relatives of the two policemen killed by miners during a protest on August 13 also said they had been denied closure.Elizabeth Monene Maubane, the sister of Warrant Officer Tsietsi Monene, who was hacked to death, said she was bitterly disappointed."I've been at the commission from day one until the last day of the commission. We don't have any closure for what happened. Who killed Tsietsi and why was he killed? What is going to happen to the people who killed him?" she asked.story_article_right4Warrant Officer Sello Lepaaku was also killed that day. Lieutenant Solly Baloyi, who was hacked nine times with a panga, survived.Mpho Mofomme, a Pretoria attorney who represents the Lepaku and Baloyi families, said he had already filed a claim with the compensation fund for his clients.He said their claims were based on evidence that the police were negligent when teargas was dispensed to disperse the miners - possibly provoking them to attack the police.''But until we study the report, we don't know who is to blame," he said. He said any payouts, if successful, were likely to be in an excess of R1-million each.Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, said no decision to investigate SAPS members had been taken yet.laganparsadm@sundaytimes.co.zajikat@sundaytimes.co.zaskitis@sundaytimes.co.za..