Lonmin vice-president for business transformation Barnard Mokwena told the Farlam inquiry yesterday that company officials would not have returned to the koppie if the events at Marikana were unfolding today.
It was a torrid day of cross-examination for Mokwena, who conceded to various misrepresentations he had made in the build-up to the deaths of 34 miners during an unprotected strike on August 16 2012.
In a transcript of a conversation between himself and North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo on August 15, he said "it was very clear that Amcu" was behind the strike and had "presented demands to management for R12500".
He conceded to Amcu lawyer Heidi Barnes yesterday that his message to Mbombo was based on an "assumption" about Amcu's role in the strike and he "had no basis to tell [the police commissioner] this".
"Yes, I am prepared to retract [the statement]," he said.
Mokwena conceded that his "main preoccupation" during the conversation with Mbombo was to "arrest those responsible for the [10] murders".
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