Marikana Commission's funds 'should have gone to victims'

05 July 2015 - 02:00 By MONICA LAGANPARSAD

Following the release last week of the report of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, critics have slammed Judge Ian Farlam's efforts as a waste of time and taxpayers' money because the commission failed to hold anyone accountable for the August 2012 massacre. On Friday, Advocate Mthunzi Mhaga, spokesman for the Department of Justice, said the inquiry had cost R31.9-million in 2012, when it sat from October to December; R68.3-million during 2013 and 2014; and R53-million in the 2014-15 financial year.Responding to criticism that there was little to show for the R153-million total cost, Mhaga said: "The commission was given a mandate and delivered on it."story_article_left1He said funding for the commission had been reallocated from various other projects that were not progressing as planned during the relevant financial years.Mhaga said funding was also diverted from "alternative projects that were of a lesser priority than the commission, given the fact that the commission was dealing with a national tragedy".When the commission began in October 2012, operational costs were already predicted to rise.At the time, the Department of Justice allocated R25-million for the commission's running costs.The then justice minister, Jeff Radebe, estimated the bill would eventually rise to R74-million.Additional costs added to the budget included transport and accommodation for victims' families.The initial baseline budget included salaries for Farlam, the five evidence leaders, the judge's two assessors - Advocate Bantubonke Tokota SC and Advocate Pingla Hemraj SC - and 27 temporary employees.Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza SC, who represented the families of miners who were killed at Marikana, said this week that the money would have been better spent on compensating the families.story_article_right2He said President Jacob Zuma should have used the R153-million to start a compensation fund."That would have been commendable," Ntsebeza said."He could have asked Lonmin to match that R153-million. What has this commission found? Nothing. Just that more inquiries must happen," he said."Now we will have to go through another long process of civil action and extra legal costs," Ntsebeza said.The Legal Aid Board is also feeling the pinch. The organisation was bound by an order of court to pay the legal fees for the families of the 34 miners killed at Marikana.Legal Aid also had to pay the costs of the lawyers who represented the more than 270 miners who were injured during the Marikana violence.The board's spokesman, Mpho Phasha, said the final legal aid cost was still being tallied, but it was likely to be in excess of R17-million...

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