The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Tuesday raised concerns about the slow pace of justice for Marikana victims, calling for progress reports from the South African Police Service (Saps) and the Justice Department.

The IFP wants information on the status of the Marikana recommendations, as well as prosecutions, and further demanded that a reasonable deadline be established for the reports to be made public.

August 16 marks ten years since 44 people – 34 of whom were mineworkers – were killed in the Marikana massacre.

“As the IFP, we are deeply concerned: not only has the Marikana massacre left an indelible, bloody stain upon our democracy, but to date, there has been no real justice for the victims and their families,” said IFP national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa.

He pointed out that no police officer had been charged in the killing of the 34 mineworkers and blamed a lack of political will to accept responsibility as a reason why families had not received justice.

“It further speaks to ongoing governance issues at the Saps, which have been left to fester for far too long. These issues continue to inflict damage upon the people of South Africa – as we saw with the more recent July 2021 unrest, where police intelligence was left high and dry, and ordinary citizens paid the price,” Hlengwa said.

Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance national spokesperson Siviwe Gwarube linked the deaths with the governance of the African National Congress, by saying that callous loss of life has become synonymous with the ruling party.

Gwarube added that the public continued to be exposed to an ineffective police service and an uncaring government.

She said the Marikana massacre must never be forgotten and compared the killings to the apartheid government’s attack on freedom fighters.  

She pointed out that the DA had long called for the prosecution of every person involved in the deaths of the 44 people at Marikana, a reform of the mining sector and support and compensation for families of the victims.