PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has rejected claims that a court had ruled that mineworkers who were injured at the hands of police may pursue damages against him.
Ramaphosa was a non-executive director at Lonmin in 2012 when rock-drill operators embarked on a strike over wages that ended in 34 of them being gunned down by police, near its Marikana mine.
In the days leading up to the shootings, Ramaphosa had called for “concomitant action” to bring an end to the strike.
Surviving mineworkers took Ramaphosa and Sibanye Stillwater, which acquired Lonmin in 2019, to the High Court seeking compensation of about 1 billion rand ($61 million).
According to a statement from the presidency, the court agreed with Ramaphosa that allegations that he “owed a duty of care to the plaintiffs due to his role as director of Lonmin,” were incorrect.
“Disturbingly, is the ongoing politicisation of this tragedy leading to the unfair targeting and isolated allocation of responsibility to the President. Others have sought to create a false impression that President Ramaphosa bears liability for the killings,” said teh Presidency.
“In having applied his mind to the judgement in the matter of Sivuka V Ramaphosa, delivered by the High Court on 1 July 2022, President Ramaphosa welcomes the judgement of the High Court, which held that the plaintiff’s particulars of claim were legally flawed in a series of respects.”
Ramaphosa also said the court had not established that he bore any legal duty in relation to the Marikana tragedy or that he was the cause of harmful conduct.
“The High Court agreed with the President’s arguments and held that the plaintiffs had not established that the President bore any legal duty in relation to the Marikana tragedy. Furthermore, the court made no finding that the President was in fact the cause of harmful conduct. The proceedings were not a trial, and no evidence was led. The Court was merely engaged in a legal debate regarding whether the plaintiffs’ allegations complied with the law,” said the Presidency.
The massacre prompted a lengthy inquiry by retired Judge Ian Farlam, who cleared Ramaphosa of wrongdoing.
STAFF REPORTER
