R2K Statement – We demand demilitarisation of policing! Release the Ntshangase report!
6 years since the Marikana Massacre: The dire need for police accountability and demilitarisation!
We are angered by the failure to hold police and politicians who are implicated in the Marikana massacre. Photo: AFP
Six years have passed since police gunned down miners in Marikana in cold blood.
The Marikana Panel of Experts, chaired by Judge David Ntshangase, was tasked with investigating the mandate and methods of public-order policing in the wake of the Farlam Commission.
R2K made submissions to the Panel in October 2017, calling for an urgent need to demilitarise policing in South Africa.
Judge Ntshangase’s Panel has handed its report to the Minister of Police but has never been released to the public. We now call for the Minister of Police Bheki Cele to release the Ntshangase report urgently!
There is a burning need to demilitarise policing in South Africa and we need to know if the Ntshangase report has delivered on the task.
Defending the right to protest
The right to protest is critical to ensuring that citizens are able to voice their dissatisfaction and to hold government and the private sector accountable for their actions and obligations.
Yet across the country, we see the right to protest being stifled, most especially for those communities where mines are operating like in Marikana. In just one example, the Marikana Youth Development Organisation has been routinely and unlawfully blocked from organising protest marches against Tharisa Mine, which is the subject of a number of community grievances. Police, municipal officials and mining executives have worked together to frustrate and deny communities’ right to protest.
On Thursday 16 August 2018, Marikana residents will march on Tharisa Mine once again to demand respect for their right to protest, and to demand that Tharisa fires its head of security, Mr William Mpembe, who was previously North West Deputy Police Commissioner and is one of the police officials now accused of murder and attempted murder in relation to the Marikana massacre.
No justice!
The Right2Know Campaign is angered by the continue failure to hold police and politicians who are implicated in the Marikana massacre. While criminal proceedings have started against a few officers, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) recommended that 71 police officers be charged. We once again join the call for justice to be done!
No compensation!
We are outraged that the victims of Marikana and their families are still fighting for compensation. As recently noted in a joint statement with the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) and Marikana Support Campaign: “Compensation for the families has partially been agreed, but the state is digging in its heels regarding claims relating to general and constitutional damages which include emotional shock, grief and the loss of family life. The injured and arrested have not yet been offered compensation that they feel is acceptable for wrongful arrest, incarceration and injury.”
We continue to urge the people of South Africa to never back down in their individual and collective struggles for political, social, economic and environmental justice.
To mark Marikana Day, and to continue the struggle for justice, R2K calls on community members to join solidarity events across the country.
Event Details:
Gauteng:
Candlelight Memorial on Nelson Mandela Bridge, Braamfontein
Time: 3PM until 5PM
Marikana: Demonstration at Tharisa mine, Rustenburg
Time: 8AM
Western Cape:
UBC march from Keizersgracht street to Parliament of South Africa
Time: 10AM
For media comments contact:
Thami Nkosi – R2K GP Campaigns Organiser: 062 624 5992
Bongani Xezwi – R2K Outreach Coordinator: 082 525 3949
Khaya Xintolo – R2K Western Cape Coordinator: 073 915 5987
