The senseless killings around Marikana need to be abated and those responsible unmasked and brought to book to soonest to avert further loss of lives, North West Premier Modise said on Tuesday in condemning the shooting of a 49-year-old Lonmin worker and a taxi owner who were shot dead over the weekend.
“We wish to convey our condolences to the families that lost their loved in the two incidents and call on the community to work with the police to ensure that faceless instigators of violence within our mining communities are unmasked so that violence does not become a way of life in these communities,” Premier Modise emphasised in appealing to members of the public to come forward with information that might assist police in their investigations.
In calling for intensified law enforcement to protect, Modise said that it is important to ensure that peace and stability prevails and that persons and property are protected so as to provide a conducive environment for development.
She said that acts of provocation, violence and intimidation in the area undermine the Marikana Peace Accord and the Framework for Peace and Stability in the Mining Industry signed by National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and AMCU on 25 February 2013.
According to police, the victim was on his way to work when approached by unknown men who shot him with a firearm on the body and neck. The suspects allegedly fled the scene with a white Toyota Corolla with Gauteng province registration numbers.
Spokesperson for North West SAPS Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone said that though the motive of the shooting that occurred on Sunday night was unknown, preliminary investigations revealed four shots were fired and that the victim is a Lonmin employee.
Mokgwabone said it was not clear if the shooting was related to other murder cases in the area, or linked to a rivalry between National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) and Association of Mineworkers' and Construction Union (AMCU) at the Lonmin platinum mine in Rustenburg.
In a separate incident, a taxi owner was shot dead and another man wounded at the Marikana taxi rank.
“It is alleged the victim who is a taxi owner was shot by three men on Friday when he got out his car while the other man was standing by at the rank," said Mokgwabone.
Premier Modise wishes the injured man who was taken to hospital a speedy recovery. Mokgwabone said that the motive of the incident is also unknown at this stage and that the incident is not linked to previous cases of murder that were reported in the area.
