The killing fields: Marikana and the justice deficit

Abstract

The Marikana massacre showed the post-apartheid state turning on itself by using state machinery to kill the most vulnerable. Marikana represents the ultimate betrayal of the promises the African National Congress (ANC) made to the victims of apartheid. It further represents a crude breach of the rule of law and the constitutional protections of South Africans. When law enforcers violate the law, the rule of law is turned on its head (Swart & Rodny-Gumede 2015:324).1. But what were the legal consequences of the massacre? Most crucially, will the perpetrators be held to account? At the time of writing, seven years after the event, the probability of the perpetrators being held legally accountable to a satisfactory extent remains slim.