Families of miners killed at South Africa’s Marikana to sue police for millions

Relatives of the 34 miners shot dead last year during a protest at South Africa’s Lonmin’s (LON:JSE) Marikana platinum mine are suing police for millions, said Friday the Socio Economic Right Institute (SERI).

According to the organization, each family is requesting around $2 million (R20 million) on the grounds of loss of support and general damages.

“Their family members have suffered irreparable loss of support following their deaths at the hands of police officers,” SERI attorney Nomzamo Zondo said in a statement.

“Many of the family members suffered severe emotional shock when they heard of the killing of their relatives, and now suffer from depression,” she added.

Yesterday new footage of last year’s shooting caused a witness to break down at the public hearings held by the Farlam Commission, which is the team investigating the events that led to the miners death.

TimesLive reports that relatives of the dead miners were asked to leave the auditorium at the Rustenburg civic centre before the videos were played.

The footage showed several bleeding bodies of protesters scattered on the ground near a hill, being shot gain by members of the police.