Police, Lonmin criminally liable, commission told

A Business Day report notes that while the police have so far received the lion's share of blame, the Legal Resources Centre said that if the police were to be held criminally liable, Lonmin could not be excused. This followed argument by the South African Human Rights Commission's counsel, Michelle le Roux, that the police operation was so negligently planned and commanded that it was inevitable the police would need to use lethal force. The risk of multiple deaths was 'both foreseeable and foreseen', Le Roux said. The report notes that Legal Resources Centre counsel Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said by the same reasoning, Lonmin was also liable; and not just for the 34 people who were killed by the police on the 16th but also for the 10 who died in the preceding week. The company had a legal duty to protect its workers and had failed to do so. It had twice been told by the police that if the police were to do what the company was suggesting, blood would be shed. Full Business Day report (subscription needed)