Rustenburg – Three people appeared in the Rustenburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with the murder of the National Union of Mineworker’s Marikana chairman, North West police said.

“They will be appearing again on 31 October. They remain in custody,” said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.

William Setelele, 46, was shot eight times and killed in the Nkaneng informal settlement last week.

His alleged killers, aged between 33 and 37, were arrested in Wonderkop extension two, Nkaneng, on Tuesday.

The provincial African National Congress welcomed the arrests and condemned the killings in Marikana.

“As the ANC, we commend the police for their swift action in arresting the alleged murders of Cde Setelele,” spokesman Ishmael Mnisi said in a statement.

Mnisi said a multi-sectoral and a comprehensive strategy, consisting of all the law enforcement agencies, including the judiciary, was need to ensure peace and stability was maintained in Marikana.

“We further call upon the civic organisations and the community of Marikana to assist the police to arrest perpetrators of barbaric acts of murder, rape and intimidation of innocent civilians,” said Mnisi.

Earlier on Thursday, North West premier Thandi Modise said the arrest gave her hope that peace and stability would be restored in Marikana.

“We welcome this breakthrough and commend police for the speedy arrest and call on the community to support police in their on-going investigations to ensure that those responsible for the recent spate of violence and killings are unmasked and brought to book soonest,” she said.

Modise called on unions in the mining sector to respect the framework for peace and stability in the mining industry they had signed earlier this year, and to discourage their members from taking the law into their own hands.

Sapa