Cape Town - The government has confirmed that the Presidency was in consultation with the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) for President Cyril Ramaphosa to visit Marikana.
This follows a promise by Ramaphosa to Parliament a few months ago he wanted to visit Marikana and he was talking to EFF leader Julius Malema.
Ramaphosa has in the past been criticised for what happened in Marikana.
The Government Communication Information System said on Friday that efforts have been made to pay some of the families and houses being built for the affected families.
“The presidency is finalising consultations with all stakeholders including Amcu and NUM on an appropriate time and date for President Ramaphosa to visit Marikana to assess the implementation of the recommendations of the Marikana commission of inquiry,” said GCIS.
Judge Ian Farlam was appointed by then President Jacob Zuma to head a commission of inquiry into the Marikana tragedy.
The commission submitted its report in 2015 with recommendations on action to be taken.
GCIS further said the government has implemented some of the recommendations of the Farlam commission.
This includes the training of police officers in crowd control.
“A total of 3 825 members from Public Order Policing have participated in basic training in crowd management. We have in recent times witnessed SAPS’s ability to effectively manage crowds in the interest of maintaining law and order during protests around the country,” said GCIS.
It added that criminal cases related to Marikana were now being prosecuted by the courts.
The government has also spent a lot of money to build houses for the affected families.
“The Department of Human Settlements launched a R700 million housing project for Marikana and to date 544 housing units have been completed. For the 2018/19 financial year the department of human settlements has focused interventions towards informal settlement upgrading, land use management, extension and sharing of bulk infrastructure to support basic service provision, increasing home ownership and rental housing opportunities,” GCIS said.