Marikana miners' case is still up in the air

27 May 2015 - 02:22 By Shaun Smillie

Three hundred miners who were injured during the Marikana massacre are deciding whether to go ahead with civil actions without the Farlam Commission report, which remains in the hands of the president. The miners have a deadline of August 15 to lodge actions because of a three-year statute of limitations for such claims.Yesterday, President Jacob Zuma said in parliament that he would release the report before the end of June.He is holding onto the report, he has said, because he is applying his mind to ensure the events at Marikana never occur again.The miners' lawyer, Andries Nkome, said the release date would give them just one month to work on submissions. They needed the report as it would "provide a lot of light and direction".But professor Peter Jordi, of the Wits Law Clinic, said that civil claims against the police were usually directed at the minister of police, and this could be done even without the report, as the information had emerged at the hearing.A spokesman for the Right2Know campaign, Murray Hunter, said the delay of the report had a "real impact" on justice for the miners. "With this report, they will have a more detailed set of facts in hand and this will give much more weight to their case."..

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