This year marks fourteen years since the Marikana massacre, during which police shot and killed 34 striking mineworkers on 16 August 2012. Between 12 and 13 August 2012, ten people were killed, including two Lonmin security guards, two police officers, and six mineworkers. At least 78 mineworkers were injured and approximately 250 arrested on 16 August 2012. Fourteen years later, the families and survivors of the Marikana massacre still await justice.

The Marikana massacre was the deadliest use of force by South African police since the Soweto student uprising of 16 June 1976. Fifty years ago, young people marched in the streets of Soweto to demand a proper education—and were met with state bullets. In 2012, mine workers demanding a living wage were met with the same violence. Eighteen of those killed were youths, ranging between the ages of 23 and 34. Fifty years later, the pattern holds: young black people continue to be met with state violence when they mobilise for their rights. What separates the two events is the constitutional framework under which state violence now occurs, which also obliges the state to account for it. That the state has chosen to evade rather than honour that obligation is not a technical failure but a political choice.

To date, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has failed to prosecute anyone concerning the events of 16 August 2012. The nine police officers who were charged, some in relation to the events of 13 August, others concerning the circumstances of one mineworker's death, were all acquitted.

In March 2021, the Mahikeng High Court acquitted four police officers in the case relating to the death of mineworker Mr Modisaotsile van Wyk Sagalala, who was shot and injured at ‘Scene 2’ on 16 August, but died in a police van that was transporting arrested mineworkers. In September 2024, the High Court also acquitted all six police officers who stood trial for their involvement in the events of 13 August 2012, which resulted in the deaths of three mineworkers (Mr Semi Jokanisi, Mr Thembelakhe Mati, and Mr Pumzile Sokanyile) as well as two police officers (Warrant Officer Tsietsi Hendrik Monene and Warrant Officer Sello Ronnie Lepaauku). These failed prosecutions demonstrated the corrosive impact that the passage of time has on the strength of the state's cases.

In 2023, the NPA issued a statement citing various personnel and resource constraints as reasons for its failure to prosecute the Marikana case. After the officers were acquitted in 2024, the NPA also announced that it would reinstate the case and that it would conduct a formal inquest. However, it remains unclear what the current status of the matter is. The families and survivors are yet to see any meaningful progress.

The 14 th anniversary of Marikana coincides with the end of Advocate Shamila Batohi’s seven-year term as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). When she left office in January 2026, Adv. Batohi conceded that the NPA had not achieved all its goals and acknowledged that she could not have fully anticipated the scale of the challenges she inherited. However, for the survivors and the families of Marikana, the NPA’s handling of Marikana represents one of the most significant failures of the NPA during her tenure. This is significant because the Farlam Commission of Inquiry had already recommended a criminal investigation into the police, providing the NPA with both direction and authority. The appointment of Advocate Jan Lekgoa Mothibi as NDPP is an opportunity for the NPA to demonstrate that accountability for Marikana remains possible. Whether that opportunity is utilised will determine if the promise of accountability under the Constitution is one that the state intends.

Thus far, the state has only paid out approximately R352 million, settling some civil claims from injured survivors, unlawfully arrested miners, and the families. Of this, 34 of the 36 families SERI represents (comprising over 300 individual dependents) received about R71 million in loss of support, which is only one of the five prayers in the families’ civil claim. Over 120 people from the families received nothing. However, these settlements do not amount to justice. They do not provide the families with the truth about what happened to their loved ones, nor do they prevent the same patterns of policing from recurring. Civil liability without criminal accountability is not justice, but the price the state has agreed to pay to avoid it.

SERI calls on the NPA to provide a detailed account of the current status of all outstanding Marikana prosecutions and provide a concrete timeline for prosecutorial action. If the NPA is unwilling or unable to prosecute, it must issue non-prosecution certificates to allow for private prosecutions. SERI further calls on the new NDPP to treat the Marikana prosecutions with the urgency it deserves. We also call on the Minister of Justice to ensure that the NPA is adequately resourced to fulfil its constitutional mandate, and that personnel and resource constraints are no longer justifications for failing to prosecute one of the most serious incidents of state violence in post-apartheid South Africa. SERI also urges the President to finally tender a formal apology to the Marikana families—a promise made by both former President Jacob Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa, but never fulfilled.

Even after fourteen years, the South African state's obligation to account for what happened in Marikana does not diminish with time, nor does the pain inflicted on the victims. Justice for Marikana is not only about the past but also about the future of South Africa’s democracy. Until the state demonstrates that the lives of ordinary people are valued equally under the law, the promise of 1994 remains unfulfilled. The families and survivors of the Marikana massacre deserve justice, and the state must uphold its obligation to ensure it is delivered. SERI remains committed to pursuing justice for the families who have carried an intolerable burden with extraordinary dignity.

On the eve of this year’s anniversary, SERI and the Forge will co-host a commemorative event to mark fourteen years since the Marikana massacre and fifty years since the Soweto uprising. The event will bring together music and critical reflection on the connections between the 1976 student uprising, the 2012 strike and massacre; and the subsequent #FeesMustFall student protests that drew inspiration from both events.

Contact details:

• Edward Molopi, SERI senior communications and advocacy officer: edward[at]seri-sa.org / 082 590 9638.

Download the press statement here .