'Marikana not my orders'

Former police minister Nathi Mthethwa has denied that the killing of 34 miners at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine on August 16 2012 occurred because he brought undue influence on National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega and her team to act inappropriately on that fatal day.

Mthethwa, now arts and culture minister, told the Farlam Commission investigating the incident that claims of "toxic collusion" between the SAPS and Lonmin sparking the tragedy were untrue.

"I deny ever bringing undue political pressure to bear on any member of the SAPS team during the Marikana event," he said.

He acknowledged that what happened at Marikana "was not supposed to happen in a democracy. Something terribly wrong took place there," Mthethwa said.

This was why President Jacob Zuma had appointed the commission , "to find the truth".

Mthethwa said that from August 12 to 15, he was in KwaZulu-Natal on ministerial business and had only two conversations with Phiyega between August 12 and the day of the killings.

According to Mthethwa, he had three telephone conversations with the North West provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Zukiswa Mbombo during that period.

Mthethwa said the general tone of the conversations with Phiyega and Mbombo was to confirm reports he had received about the situation in Marikana and whether police were dealing with the matter appropriately.

"At no stage did I set about to prescribe to SAPS how the situation should be managed," he said.

Mthethwa also referred to e-mail correspondence from then Lonmin shareholder Cyril Ramaphosa to former minerals and energy minister Susan Shabangu in which Ramaphosa warned her that her silence and inaction were bad for her and the government.

Mthethwa said he only learned about the e-mails from the media.

The hearing continues.