Rustenburg – Some of the protesters killed in Marikana in August around a small koppie appeared to have been handcuffed, the Farlam Commission heard on Monday.

Dali Mpofu, the attorney for injured and arrested Lonmin miners, was cross examining crime scene expert Captain Apollo Mohlaki and asked whether he had seen any protesters – whether dead, injured or arrested – with their hands bound behind their backs.

Mohlaki said he had not, but conceded that on a video shown to the commission it appeared to be the case.

“At the crime scene I never observed that…. I never went to individual bodies to see which one was handcuffed, which one was injured… .

“If I am looking at the video there is a person, handcuffed possibly, but on the day I did not observe that.”

On August 16, 34 protesters were killed when police fired on them near Lonmin’s Marikana mine near Rustenburg in the North West.

The commission, chaired by retired judge Ian Farlam, was appointed to look into the circumstances around the killings.

The video showed the dead bodies of the miners lying at unnatural angles among large rocks. Traditional and dangerous weapons were visible around the corpses.

Due to the graphic nature of this evidence, Farlam warned the families of those killed that they might find the footage distressing and invited them to leave, if they wished.

Towards the end of the video, loud laughter could be heard, but the group laughing was not visible.

Asked what police might have found so amusing at the scene of so many violent deaths, Mohlaki said: “I have no idea.” – Sapa