Zuma's take on Marikana

24 June 2015 - 02:36 By Sipho Masombuka and Neo Goba

President Jacob Zuma yesterday said the 34 mineworkers gunned down in Marikana three years ago were killed because police wanted to stop violence. Zuma was addressing students at Tshwane University of Technology, which he had visited to listen to their safety, funding and accommodation concerns.Before his arrival, members of the ANC traded blows with their EFF adversaries. A handful of EFF supporters were singing outside the hall when a large group of students arrived and encircled them.Fists started flying after an ANC supporter had grabbed a beret and set it alight.Several EFF supporters' red berets were set on fire in front of the hall where Zuma was to speak. Students in ANC regalia were heard shouting: "This is not parliament."On his arrival, Zuma urged the students not to resort to violence to raise issues.He said the policemen who gunned down the 34 mineworkers in Marikana in August 2012 were "stopping violence"."We do not want police using violence because they are stopping violence. And those people in Marikana had killed people, and the police were stopping them from killing people," he said.Zuma is set to release the Marikana report next week.Earlier, police had to disarm the students who were armed with sticks and stones. Journalists filming the chaos were forced to delete pictures and videos from their phones.The running battles between the two camps continued until moments before Zuma's arrival.EFF supporters were allegedly barred from entering the hall.Alpheous Rathoakga, an EFF supporter, said he could not understand why the party's members were being threatened, saying the event was not an ANC rally."We have every right to be here. This is not an ANC rally but a government event. They use every opportunity to provoke us but we will not fall into their trap," he said.SRC president Bongani Maluleke said the violence was caused by confusion over whether the meeting was an ANC or government event."When we got in from the gate we found Sasco members beating up ANC members," he said.EFF members approached police officers in a truck parked nearby to complain. But the police would not hear them out, saying they were only there to note the incidents...

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