Johannesburg - A 2012 South African police operation that left 34 Marikana mine workers dead should "not have taken place", a long-awaited report said Thursday, calling on the officers involved to face a criminal investigation.
Presenting the findings of a commission of inquiry, President Jacob Zuma described the shooting -- the worst violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid -- as "a horrendous tragedy that has no place in a democracy".
"The commission found that the police operation should not have taken place on the 16th August because of the defects in the plan," said Zuma in a public broadcast.
He said the commission recommended "a full investigation under the direction of the director of public prosecutions... with a view to ascertaining criminal liability on the part of all members of the South African Police Service who were involved in the incidents."
On August 16, 2012, after days of violent protests at Lonmin platinum mine northwest of Johannesburg, police opened fire on a group of demonstrating workers, killing 34 people.
In the days leading up to the attack, 10 others had been killed in violence related to the strike -- including non-striking miners, security guards and two police officers who were hacked to death.
AFP
