Phiyega accused Marikana witness of colluding with Bizos
COLONEL Salmon Vermaak told the Marikana Commission how national police commissioner Riah Phiyega had accused him of colluding with the Legal Resource Centre’s Advocate George Bizos and the commission’s evidence leaders on the third day of his testimony in Centurion yesterday.
Vermaak, who appears to have broken ranks with the rest of the SA Police Service’s witnesses in their official version of what happened at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mines on August 16 2012 when 34 striking miners died, said he was the victim of various allegations and rumours because he took a decision to stand by the truth. He said he was ac- cused of this collusion – which he denied – at a meeting with Phiyega on January 21 last year.
Phiyega would not tell him where the allegations had emanated from, Vermaak said.
Later, veteran human rights lawyer Bizos prefaced the start of his cross-examination of Vermaak by asking: “Can you confirm in the interests of truth and my professional dignity that I have never consulted with you?”
Vermaak did so. The colonel, who was in charge of the police’s airwing unit at Marikana on that fatal day, also said there were allegations that he had been “bragging about people being shot from a helicopter [at Marikana] at a police braai”.
He said he did not attend braais because the smell of braaied meat reminded him of the smell of burning human flesh after he had witnessed necklacings as a policeman in the 1980s.
In his testimony, Vermaak was critical of the policing experience of the SAPS leadership at Marikana, including North West deputy provincial commissioner William Mpembe, who he said had limited experience in public policing and dealing with mine unrest. He described how at a post-Marikana meeting of the SAPS in Potchefstroom, he had been confronted by Mpembe about allegations – confirmed by another police officer at the meeting – that the deputy provincial commissioner had ordered the firing of tear gas and stun grenades at miners on August 13.
This incident led to the death of two police members and Vermaak had told the commission the order had triggered the confrontation between police and striking miners.
Asked by commission chairman, retired Judge Ian Farlam if, with his years of public order policing experience, the death and injury toll at Marikana could have been avoided if he were in charge, Vermaak said while he could not guarantee this, he would have certainly limited the high toll by handling it differently. “I would have searched the hostels before to remove any dangerous weapons. If that had been done, the public would have realised the police would not just sit and wait for this thing to happen.”
He would also have prevented the miners from gathering at the koppie, as they had done during the strike on the morning of August 16.
Vermaak also pinpointed several deficiencies in the police’s preparations at Marikana and in general.
He said one of the tactical response team (TRT) units present at Marikana was “definitely not aware of the legislation” that governed the policing of public gatherings and protests and had engaged in illegal actions on August 16. TRT members were captured on television cameras killing 17 miners at scene one at Marikana but it is unconfirmed whether these are the policemen Vermaak was referring to.
His criticisms of police operations on August 16 included poor intelligence which created a gap in the plan, police not documenting engagements with striking miners properly on video and audio recorders, poor record-keeping of their actions and movements and that police had not filled in “tasking forms”.
Vermaak said the tasking forms would have clarified each member’s role and responsibility in the operational plan and was a national standard that had not been adhered to.