Marikana / Rustenburg – Mineworkers in Marikana fear for their lives after yet another colleague was shot dead in the area, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Wednesday, 23 July.Bongani “Bhayi” Mehlonkomo was shot and killed in cold blood in Marikana on Tuesday, 22 July 2014. According to Colonel Sabata Mokgwabone, Mehlonkomo (38) was walking home on Tuesday afternoon, when the assailants opened fire and killed him. “The incident occurred at approximately 16:30 and the assailants opened fire from their vehicle.” However, according to commission chairperson retired Judge Ian Farlam, the Police should prevent murders of people linked to the Marikana Commission of Inquiry. “There are quite a number of deaths already in the Marikana saga. I would ask the police to redouble their efforts to ensure violence of this kind is not allowed to continue,” he said at the inquiry’s public hearings in Pretoria. According to Dali Mpofu, “There is a growing concern among the people that I represent. Speculation in the community is that the assassination is connected to the
mentioning of names by Mr X,” Mpofu stated.
Mpofu said police witness, known only as “Mr X”, had repeatedly mentioned Bhayi at the inquiry, implicating him in the August 2012 murders of two police officers and Lonmin security guards. Bhayi was a secretary of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) at Lonmin’s Roland Shaft in Marikana. Mr X may not be identified and is testifying via a remote video link from an undisclosed location. He is under witness protection. The inquiry is investigating the deaths of 44 people during strike-related unrest at Lonmin’s operations at Marikana, near Rustenburg, in August 2012. Thirty-four people, mostly striking mineworkers, were shot dead by police apparently trying to disarm and disperse them on 16 August 2012. Seventy others were wounded and 250 arrested. In the preceding week, 10 people including the two policemen and two security guards were killed.
via Marikana Miner, named by Mr. X, shot & killed this week.