Pretoria - Settling negotiations with the State about compensation for a group of miners injured during the Marikana massacre are on track, and the court is satisfied with the progress made this week.
This is according to Gauteng High Court, Pretoria Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba, who yesterday postponed the proceedings to determine the damages payable to the group to Tuesday.
The civil proceedings, in which a host of claimants were claiming damages from the State after they were injured and arrested during the Marikana massacre in August 2012, have been set down for hearing until August 19.
Legal arguments regarding the amounts of compensation owed to these mineworkers and their families have not commenced, as the legal representatives and the State were embroiled in negotiations this week outside court, to try and find common ground. The negotiations are ongoing.
The State has put various offers on the table for the claimants and their legal teams to consider.
The matter, however, was briefly in court yesterday when the parties asked for the proceedings to stand down until Tuesday to enable them to streamline some of the offers which they had accepted to date.
Judge Ledwaba said the parties had meet in chambers this week. “We are making progress and I’m happy about this progress,” the judge said.
He said some of the matters had already been settled. It is understood that the matters in which the parties could not find common ground will be argued in court to try and establish what compensation should be paid.
Lawyer Andries Nkome, who represents some of the claimants, said: “The State has made offers and our clients are still considering them. We have a few claims we will accept, but the State is unreasonable in the bulk of the matters so we will stand down arguments for the court to decide.
“Our view is that in appreciation of the fact that this is the 10th anniversary of the massacre, more effort should be made to try and put this hurt behind us,” Nkome added.
Some mineworkers who are claiming compensation were present at court yesterday, but they did not want to be identified.
Zusiphe Dyantyi, whose husband was severely injured during the strike, did not mind to show her face. She said her husband died a year ago. He was due to be part of the group before court in asking for compensation.
Her attorney, Muzi Msimang, said his client was shot in the back by the police at the time and should have received compensation long ago.
His widow hopes to receive some compensation on behalf of him.
Msimang, who is representing 14 of the miners who were shot at Marikana, said he had received offers from the State on behalf of various of his clients, which he is busy considering.
It is believed that in some cases the State is asking for medical/legal reports before placing offers on the table, which could prolong the process.
It’s been a seven-year legal battle by the Marikana mineworkers to sue President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sibanye-Stillwater and the government, for almost R1 billion.
The individual claims by those injured during the shooting run into millions in most cases. One of the claimants, Sibongile Fetman, who was severely injured when the SAPS opened fire while he took cover at Wonderkop in Marikana that day, is claiming R2.3 million from the State.
His summons before court said the police should have refrained from shooting at the strikers gathered at the koppie. It is said there were other means to deal with the situation without firing at the strikers.
Pretoria News