Numsa call for ICC trial

President Jacob Zuma's government, including national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, may one day have to answer tough questions before the International Criminal Court if the metalworkers' union has its way.

Delegates attending the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa special congress yesterday gave their leaders firm instructions to obtain a legal opinion seeking to refer the Marikana massacre to The Hague.

The proposal was raised by Numsa's KwaZulu-Natal region and supported by other regions, although Mpumalanga raised concerns about what it said was the ICC's bias against African leaders.

Numsa's call came after Tuesday night's screening at the conference of a documentary that showed the brutal slaying of mineworkers by police on August 16 last year.

The documentary - still unedited and yet to be released - left the more than 1 000 delegates seething, prompting them to instruct their leaders to seek a legal opinion aimed at establishing whether there were grounds to haul Phiyega, the government and Lonmin shareholders before the ICC.

Top of Numsa's list of Lonmin shareholders who would be forced to account for their alleged role in the massacre is Cyril Ramaphosa, the BEE mining magnate, who was elected as ANC deputy president just four months after the incident.

The August 16 2012 killings in Marikana were televised internationally, leading to global condemnation.

Numsa plans to distribute the documentary internationally, seemingly in the hopes of drumming up support for its ICC call.

Numsa deputy general secretary Karl Kloete said the documentary would be delivered to the business tycoon as well.

Ramaphosa, who is one of those in line to take over from President Jacob Zuma as both ANC and government leader, could be compromised by his status as a shareholder at Lonmin mine at the time of the Marikana shootings.

In addition to calls for a legal opinion, Numsa delegates demanded Phiyega's immediate dismissal.

Kloete said the union blamed her for the massacre.

"Our view is that she [Phiyega] is the one who gave instructions to kill our people," said Kloete.

"We demand that the national commissioner of police [Phiyega] be dismissed.

"We demand that all the politicians complicit in the massacre of mineworkers be brought to book.

"We commit to ensure that the shareholders are informed of the Marikana massacre so they may be made aware of the source of their worth," he added.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim pointed a finger squarely at the ANC.

"The armed forces of the state, ruled by our own ANC government, slaughtered workers whose only crime was to demand a living wage," he said.

Jim also rejected attacks on Numsa for labelling the shootings a "massacre''.