Marikana mine strike: South Africa court frees miners

The miners left court cheering and singing

About 50 South African miners have been freed after murder charges against them, relating to the deaths of 34 miners shot by police, were dropped.

Prosecutors decided to provisionally set aside charges against 270 striking workers from the Marikana mine following a public outcry.
About 100 miners are expected to be freed on Monday.
Earlier, security guards wounded four people with rubber bullets at a mine near Johannesburg, police said.
The group released on Monday with no bail is due back in court in February next year.

On Sunday, the prosecution announced the charges would be suspended until the outcome of a judge-led inquiry into the events of 16 August at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine.

The charges, levelled under a controversial apartheid-era law to accuse the miners of provoking police to open fire, were suspended after widespread condemnation.
The "common purpose" doctrine was used by the white-minority apartheid regime to crack down on its black opponents, and at the time was opposed by the now governing African National Congress (ANC).
Those whose addresses had been verified by police would be released on Monday, and the rest would remain in custody until their next court appearance on Thursday, the prosecution said.
Police said they opened fire on the strikers at Marikana after being threatened by a crowd of protesters who advanced towards them, armed with machetes.
The 270 miners, six of whom remain in hospital, were arrested during the protests.
Miners were demanding a huge pay rise and recognition of a new union.
Talks are continuing to resolve the dispute, which has shut the mine for the past three weeks.

Analysis

Ralph Mathekga South African political analyst

The Marikana story is not only a tragic incident where mineworkers senselessly lost their lives, but it is also developing into one of the worst cases of bungling by the prosecution since white minority rule ended in 1994.
No prosecuting authority in its right mind could have instituted murder charges against 270 mineworkers for the killing of 34 of their colleagues by police. This has fuelled speculation that the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) must have been under political influence to institute the charges. What makes the picture even murkier is its subsequent decision to withdraw the charges.
Marikana is playing out at a sensitive moment for the ruling African National Congress party, as it is gearing towards its December conference, when it elects its leaders.
The crisis will be used by President Jacob Zuma's critics as further evidence of the need to replace him, but it is unlikely to jeopardise his chances of winning a second term. The political storm may well be drawing to an end.