Johannesburg - Pressure was mounting on Monday on President Jacob Zuma to release the findings of the Farlam Commission Report on the Marikana massacre.
In a bid to expedite the release, court papers were to be served on Zuma on Monday by the injured victims in an attempt to force him to release the report on the killing of 34 miners and the injuring of 300 others.
Attorney Andries Nkome, representing the injured miners and Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, said on Monday morning he feared that should the release be delayed any further, his clients would not have time to prepare for civil claims which expire on August 16 due to a three-year period within which such claims have to be instituted.
A letter was sent to the Presidency on Friday demanding that Zuma respond by 2pm on Sunday concerning when he would release the report submitted to him by the Marikana Commission of Inquiry on March 31.
“We have not received a response. We will now proceed with court papers. We are finalising them on Monday morning and by this afternoon we will have a case number and date,” said Nkome.
He said this was being done because his clients would not have enough time to prepare for civil claims if the report was not released soon.
“Such civil claims will be extinguished on August 16… due to the expiry of the three-year period within which such claims have to be instituted,” he wrote in his letter to Zuma.
Nkome said his clients were also concerned by reports that North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Zukiswa Mbombo would be retiring at the end of the month. Mbombo was one of the people his clients held directly responsible “for their physical and emotional scars”.
He added: “Our clients are of the firm view that her imminent departure is largely motivated, in whole or in part, by a deliberate desire to escape the obvious consequences of her criminal and/or otherwise unlawful conduct in connection with the Marikana massacre… The failure to release the report is also calculated to let her off the hook.”
Nkome said his clients were also concerned about reports that national police commissioner General Riah Phiyega had been offered a different posting by Zuma.
“The feeling that my clients have (is that they) will not be able to hold them accountable be because they will not be holding that office any more.”
He called on the president to release the report before May 31, Mbombo’s retirement date.
The Marikana Support Campaign (MSC), the Right2Know Campaign (R2K) and the SA History Archive (Saha) are also now demanding the immediate release of the Farlam report.
Saha, in consultation with MSC and R2K, submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) request to the Presidency for the release of the report. In terms of Paia, the Presidency must respond to the request within 30 days. The report was sent to the president on March 31, but is yet to be made public. Zuma has avoided questions around when he will be releasing the report to the public.
The Commission Report and findings are crucial to determining the truth about what happened at Marikana, to hold those responsible for the massacre to account and to ensure that justice is served, the statement said.
Presidency spokesman Harold Maloka refused to say whether the Presidency had received the letter. “The statement (by the Presidency) on May 10 still stands,” he said.
The Star