Marikana
families sue police for millions
01 Mar 2013
01 Mar 2013
Charl du Plessis
FAMILY members of miners who were killed at Marikana have embarked on a multimillion-rand lawsuit against the police. They include mothers who suffered miscarriages after the violence.
In a press statement issued by the Social Economic Rights Institute (Seri) yesterday, the Institute said it would sue on behalf of 36 families who lost loved ones at Marikana.
Nomzamo Zondo, an attorney at Seri, told City Press that it was not possible to put an amount on the damages, but that the amount claimed would be between R10 million and R50 million.
Zondo said that while Seri remained hopeful about the findings of the ongoing Marikana Commission of Inquiry into the death of 44 people at the Lonmin Marikana mine in August last year, “our clients believe that the SAPS (South African Police Service) used disproportionate force at Marikana”.
Zondo further said: “They are accordingly entitled to reparations for the loss of support and general damages incurred as a result of the killing.”
Seri said that many of the family members it represented had suffered “irreparable loss of support” due to the death of sole breadwinners in the families.
It further said that many family members had suffered severe shock when informed of the deaths of their loved ones, which had caused depression and miscarriages among the families it represented.
The institute said that it had served notice of the claims on the police in terms of the Institution of Legal Proceedings Against Certain Organs of State Act.
The act requires payment to be made by the police within 30 days of receiving the claim, failing which, Seri would institute court proceedings against the police.
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