Johannesburg – Lawyer Dali Mpofu has launched an urgent application in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, to secure state funding for the legal representation of victims of last year’s Marikana shooting, the SABC reported on Friday.

Mpofu told the Farlam Commission of Inquiry that due to financial constraints, Friday could be his last day representing the miners injured in the incident.

The application seeks to compel President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Jeff Radebe to approve funding for continued representation of the wounded miners.

According to the report, Mpofu said he hoped the matter would be resolved by the time the commission resumed on 15 July after a three-week recess.

Police shot dead 34 striking miners in Marikana, North West, on 16 August last year while trying to disperse them.

The commission is investigating the events that led to the shooting, and the deaths of 10 more people in strike-related violence the previous week.

– SAPA