Inquiry into Marikana shootings resumes

South African miners

flickr- Julien Harneis

The inquiry into the deadly violence at the Lonmin Marikana platinum mine resumes after it was delayed to let lawyers consult their clients. 

By October 3, the relatives of only five of the thirty-four workers shot by the police were able to make it to the hearing in Rustenburg. A lawyer for some of the absent families said that their dead have not been buried yet and he had therefore not been able to speak to them. 

The inquiry into the August 16 violent clashes between Lonmin platinum mine workers and local police opened on October 1. Its purpose is to discover how a dispute over pay ended in bloodshed.

The investigation is expected to determine the roles played by the police, the Lonmin mine management, the mine workers' unions and the government. 

Under the current mandate, the Commission of Inquiry appointed by South African President Jacob Zuma is supposed to complete its work by the end of January 2013.

The Marikana case shocked the world, partly because of its close resemblance to the brutality the country saw under white apartheid rule before 1994.