Speech by COPE President Mosiuoa Lekota in the debate in Parliament on condolence motion on the Lonmin Mine tragedy at Marikana, August 21 2012

Speaker,

Death is final. Nothing can reverse death. The sudden, unanticipated death of 34 miners at Marikana at the hands of the police, in circumstances still to be fully revealed by the Judicial Commission of Enquiry that the President intends to appoint, will leave indelible scars that will not quickly heal. As far as COPE is concerned the tragedy was preventable if only proactive and even-handed measures had been implemented by all parties.

In the aftermath of the tragic incident, the nation is shocked and its confidence in the future is shaken. The nightmare of a past period stretching from Sharpeville, to Langa, to Boipatong has returned. The judicial commission of enquiry that is being promised must lay bare the whole truth. Nothing less will do.

The families of the two policemen and the two security guards who were killed as well as those of the miners who lost loved ones need to know the whole truth of what has really been happening.

Media groups across the world have been flashing images of the tragedy on their screens and front pages. The great political capital we had has been severely eroded. Someone has to pay the price for this.

The death of the four security personnel and the thirty four miners has left all of us distressed and distraught. COPE offers its sincerest and heartfelt condolences to all the bereaved families. COPE also demands that both government and Lonmin provide these families with all the support necessary in this period of their bereavement and beyond.

The events that unfolded on Black Thursday have been a long time in the making. The President, as everyone has observed, and all the analysts have been consistently pointing out, is focussing so exclusively on his own election that he has allowed the wheels of state to come apart.

The South African constitution in section 12 guarantees everyone freedom from all forms of violence from either public or private sources. There is no death penalty. The question that therefore has to be asked is: Was there a command given to the police to shoot a volley at the miners using live ammunition. If so, where did that order come from and what authority was used to sanction the use of deadly force?

COPE asks this question because it is clear that the police were armed with sub-machine guns when they should have been equipped with riot gear, water cannons, pepper spray and rubber bullets to quell serious disorder. On 1 April 2010 President Zuma introduced new ranks, with a military connotation, like "general" and "colonel" in the manner used before 1994.

In 2009, the then Deputy Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula declared the intention of the administration to make the police a paramilitary force by adopting the military ranking system.

Our RSA Constitution in section 199 provides for a "defence force" on the one hand and a single police service on the other hand. This distinction, which this administration has been actively seeking to blur, is vitally important to make. The "militarisation" of the police has been recognised as a major impediment in the NDP which was released last week in Parliament by no less a political leader than the Minister in the Presidency, Mr Trevor Manuel. The NDP specifically calls for the demilitarization of the police and we in COPE fully support that call.

On Black Thursday at Marikana, members of SAPS used excessive force against the miners because the police were outflanked while laying out barbed wire and said that they felt endangered. The key question is how many miners were armed with guns requiring SAPS members to use semi-automatic rifles against them? We need to know this.

It is very clear to all of us that SAPS management failed to update its own rules for dealing with public protests. In the circumstances officers were ignorant of the standing orders regarding the use of live ammunition. This failure, in view of the enormous damage caused to the reputation of the nation, must have repercussions for the executive as well as for the management of SAPS.

Another issue of enormous concern to COPE is the close political alliance of the ruling party with public service trade unions such as NUM and POPCRU. We all know that at Marikana Mines AMCU had broken away from NUM and that there was great enmity between them. What will convince the public that the order to shoot at AMCU members was not linked to large scale rejection of NUM, an affiliate of the ruling party, by members that previously belonged to NUM? Was there a hidden political agenda to the shooting at Marikana because of the close relationship or was it a failure of SAPS management to update its standing orders on use of live ammunition?

Minister Shabangu has fuelled such speculation by her steadfast refusal to allow AMCU to be present at a meeting with the other involved parties. Her deliberate omission of AMCU is unacceptable.

The ruling party has put itself in a terribly invidious position as it can no longer convince the nation that it has the ability to be even handed, neutral and objective. Government is established with taxpayer's money and every citizen, regardless of political affiliation, requires equal justice. If that impartiality is in doubt, the central pillar on which government exists will have collapsed.

To add a further twist to this dilemma the news magazine, Praag alleges that:

Cyril Ramaphosa, beskik blykbaar via sy maatskappy Shanduka oor ‘n kontrak om alle arbeid ann die Lonmin-myn op Marikana te verskaf. "Ramaphosa en die NUM bedryf ‘n vorm van slawe-arbeid by die myn," het ‘n bron op Marikana gese. "Hy verskaf die arbeid teen ongeveer R12 000 per werker, betal elke werker R4000 per maand en steek die res in sy sak."

[Cyril Ramaphosa, has apparently through his company Shanduka obtained a contract for all labour at the Lonmin Marikana mine. "Ramaphosa and the NUM are operating a form of slave labour at the time," said a source at Marikana. "He provides the labour at about R12 000 per worker, but pays each worker R4 000 per month and puts the rest the rest in his pocket."]

If there is any truth in this allegation it will show good cause why the mine drillers are insisting on being paid R12 000 per month. This figure will not have been sucked out of the air.

The truth of the contract will be easy to establish from records kept both by Lonmin and Shanduka. The role of COIN Security used at Marikana, which is also nested in Shanduka, also needs a thorough investigation.

The grievances of the mine workers may have a basis in hidden deals and secret interests.

The tragedy that occurred at Marikana was a dismal failure of leadership and of accountability on the part of the ruling party. That is where the central focus should lie.

For a long time COPE has been insisting on constitutionality, accountability, and transparency in governance. On 3 August 2012, I asked the Minister of Police, in question 1869, whether the curriculum for SAPS members included the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The minister's reply of 3 August 2012 indicates that a "crowd management learning programme" exists for SAPS members. We will have to interrogate this because section 199(5) of the RSA Constitution specifically requires that the security services "must teach and require their members to act in accordance with the Constitution".

"Accountability, responsiveness and openness" are key founding provisions of our Constitution. In respect of the tragedy at Marikana we must indeed ask how responsive, open and accountable the ministers have been in the unfolding tragedy. It cannot be acceptable that ministers, notwithstanding their failure to discharge "all (their) constitutional obligations ... diligently and without delay", as required in terms of section 237 of the Constitution, can remain safely ensconced in their positions.

If they fail the test they must go.

Serial government misdemeanours, ineptitude, tender manipulation, corruption and lack of leadership, amongst other things, has eroded people's trust in government. People are increasing resorting to street justice and violence to get noticed by a government that seeks not to hear, seeks not to see and seeks not to do.

As the quality and quantity of services decline, state coffers empty, and corruption multiplies the protests will grow and the use of force to achieve control will become the order of the day.

Intolerable situations lead to an escalation in violence that then feeds on violence. We must be very careful not to enter that cycle of conflict which cannot be broken.

The clock in South Africa has been set back. The lack of a moral compass on the part of the ruling party has led to a loss of moral authority. That is why the police are not being obeyed and both police and civilians are dying in the violence that is being unleashed.

COPE deeply regrets what happened at Marika Mines and joins with all other parties in conveying its condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of all those who lost their lives and prays for the speedy recovery of all those who sustained severe injury.

Thank You

Issued by COPE, August 21 2012

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter