Families of Marikana massacre victims promised compensation after 4-year wait

The South African government has promised to financially compensate families of victims of the 34 killed miners and the dozens wounded by the police in the Marikana massacre of 2012.

The presidency announced in a statement on Thursday that in the coming months it will make an offer to each “plaintiff” after an amount is decided on.

Last year, the families of the victims had filed civil suits against the South African state, demanding compensation for the 326 people who were financially dependent on the killed miners.

“The government is ready to make an offer in the coming months to end the dispute once an amount is determined. The government is in the process of determining the amount for each plaintiff to settle lawsuits,” the statement said.

“This statement is welcome but it will still take several months for those widows who had nothing for several years to recover,” one of the lawyers of the victims, George Bizos, said.

The decision by government comes two days after the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the massacre of which no government official attended.

The killed miners were demanding more wages at the Lonmin platinum mine company in Marikana on August 16, 2012 when they were shot dead by police who had arrived to end the strike.

The massacre was preceded by several days of violent clashes between strikers and security guards of the mine and the police.