South Africa: Marikana Experts Report Points the Way to Better Policing

analysis

The Marikana massacre was a South African tragedy. It was also a policing disaster. But little has changed to improve policing in the country since then. One reason for this is the failure of government and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to act on recommendations made two years ago by an expert panel set up on the advice of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry.

The mine workers' strike that started on 9 August 2012 had already turned violent by the time the SAPS intervened. Their intervention only made things worse. Four days later, two police and three strikers were killed in a clash precipitated by police incompetence and ill-discipline. Then, on 16 August 2012, 34 men were shot dead and another 60 seriously injured by police gunfire.

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