S. Africa to drop murder charges against miners

South Africa said yesterday that controversial murder charges against 270 miners over the deaths of fellow workers shot by police, the worst such clash since the apartheid era, will be provisionally dropped.

Their case is postponed pending the finalisation of investigations

Following a public furore, acting national director of prosecutions, Nomgcobo Jiba, said that after having sought an explanation from the department’s lead prosecutors, she had taken the decision to review the charge.

“The murder charge against the current 270 suspects, which was provisional anyway, will be formally withdrawn provisionally in court on their next court appearance,” Ms Jiba told reporters.

A final decision would be taken on the charges after a series of investigations into the shootings, which left 34 miners dead, had delivered their findings. They include a judicial commission of inquiry appointed by President Jacob Zuma, which has four months to complete its work.

A decision and a “pronouncement on final charges to be preferred against any persons involved will only be made once all investigations have been completed,” she said.

Thursday’s decision to charge the miners over the August 16 killings during a wildcat strike at the Lonmin platinum mine, in what was the worst police violence since the end of apartheid, had triggered outrage.

The workers have been held in custody since they were arrested on the day of the shooting at Lonmin’s mine in Marikana, northwest of Johannesburg, which left 34 dead and 78 wounded.

Courts will start releasing them after police verify their addresses. The first batch of more than 100 miners is due to be freed today while the rest should go home on Thursday.

“The protesters are to be released conditionally... and their case is postponed pending the finalisation of investigations.”

On Friday, South Africa’s justice minister demanded the prosecutors explain why the arrested miners had been charged with murdering their colleagues, who had been shot dead by police.

Lawyers for the mineworkers have argued that their detention is unlawful and in an open letter to Mr Zuma have called for their release.

The President, however, has refused to act on their demand, arguing that that would be interfering with the work of the judiciary.

The workers have been held in custody since they were arrested on the day of the shooting at Lonmin’s mine in Marikana, northwest of Johannesburg.

Ms Jiba defended the initial use of the law with which the miners had been charged.

“The decision to institute murder charges against the miners is based on a sound legal principle which has not only been part of our legal system for decades but continues to remain relevant and applicable in our democratic dispensation,” she said.

“NPA has applied the principle in many cases before. Its application to this specific case would therefore not be unique,” she added.

Under the common purpose principle, a group of people can be charged for acting together to commit a criminal act. It was once used by the ruling white minority regime to crack down on black activists who were fighting for equality.

Police claimed self-defence in the shooting after an escalating stand-off between rival unions had already killed 10 people including two police officers during an increasingly bitter strike over pay at Lonmin’s Marikana mine.