Case against 17 Marikana miners provisionally struck off the roll

The case against 17 men accused of murder and other serious offences in the days leading up to the Marikana massacre in 2012 was on Friday provisionally removed from the court roll by the North West high court sitting in Mogwase, outside Rustenburg.

This was after an application made by the defense attorneys this week to have the matter struck off the roll pending the outcome of the review application they had registered with the high court in Pretoria to have all charges against the accused withdrawn.   

NPA spokesperson Henry Mamothame confirmed the court had taken the matter off the roll and said the state notes and respects the court’s decision. 

“In passing judgement acting judge Andrew Reddy highlighted some considerations he had made, particularly the rights of the accused to have a fair trial, the interest of the families of the deceased and the plight of the witnesses in the matter, Mamothame said.

“The judge further made it clear that the removal of this matter is not a verdict but merely a pause to await the outcome of the review application registered by the accused persons.” .

He said the judge had said copies of this judgement would be shared with the Judge President of the North West High Court, Judge President of the Gauteng High Court Division, National Director of Public Prosecutions, Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West and the office of the State Attorney in Pretoria, with the hope it would expedite the conclusion of the review application.

The 17 are charged with seven counts of murder, four of malicious damage to property, four of robbery, three for unlawful possession of firearms and three for unlawful possession of ammunition.

Mamothame said the charges are related to the labour disputes between mine workers of Lonmin Karee Mine and Impala Platinum Mine (Implats) and their employers when they participated in unprotected wage strikes that led to the loss of lives and damage to property.

The trial of the 17 men was set to sit from March 6 to March 10 and Mamothame said the state was ready to proceed with the trial but could not continue as the defense attorneys were reluctant to proceed because they wanted the matter to be postponed or struck off the roll pending the outcome of the review application they had registered with the Gauteng division of the high court.

“The state opposed this move as an order was granted by the North West Judge President for trial to resume amid the pending review application. The state also believes it’s in the interest of justice for the trial to commence, considering the interests of the families of the deceased and of society in this matter.

“The matter last appeared on November 29 2022 and it was postponed for trial as per the Judge President’s order. The court, however, opted to remove the matter off the court roll and the state notes and respects the court decision,” Mamothame said. 

One of the accused is currently serving a life sentence for a murder related to the wage strike in Marikana in 2012.

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