Police provide details on Marikana

Marikana Commission of Inquiry chairman Ian Farlam is seen during the first week of the inquiry at the Civic Centre in Rustenburg in the North West, Wednesday, 3 October 2012. The judicial commission of inquiry into the shooting at Lonmin platinum mine was postponed on Wednesday. Lawyers representing the different parties unanimously decided to postpone the matter to 9am on October 22. Thirty-four miners were killed and 78 wounded when police opened fire on them while trying to disperse protesters near the mine in Marikana on August 16. Picture: SAPA stringer

Marikana Commission of Inquiry chairman Ian Farlam is seen during the first week of the inquiry at the Civic Centre in Rustenburg in the North West, Wednesday, 3 October 2012. The judicial commission of inquiry into the shooting at Lonmin platinum mine was postponed on Wednesday. Lawyers representing the different parties unanimously decided to postpone the matter to 9am on October 22. Thirty-four miners were killed and 78 wounded when police opened fire on them while trying to disperse protesters near the mine in Marikana on August 16. Picture: SAPA stringer

Published Nov 9, 2012

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Johannesburg - The Farlam Commission into the killing of 34 strikers at Lonmin's platinum mine in Marikana will continue on Friday, hearing details from the police about what happened.

Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Scott on Thursday outlined the police deployment plan of August 16 for the commission, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam.

He told the commission that the South African Police Service (SAPS) plan for that day included sending 630 police officers to the troubled region.

Scott gave details of the weapons and resources used in the roll-out of the police's second stage of a six-point intervention plan.

Later on August 16, 34 miners were killed when police opened fire on them in a bid to break up a protest. Ten other people were killed in protest violence the preceding week.

Another policeman, Lieutenant Colonel Victor Visser, narrated the events which took place from August 13 to 15.

Visser gave an account of the violence and murder committed, allegedly by protesters.

He showed the commission photos of the body of a mine supervisor who had been hacked to death. - Sapa

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