A year and a half after the horrific Marikana strike and subsequent massacre, one policeman has come forward amid heavy fire from police lawyers to tell his truth. He tells a version quite different to the self-defense tale that has been spun off by other senior police officers.
Lieutenant Colonel Salmon Johannes Vermaak was flying a helicopter above the scene and maintaining communications. He saw everything and he is not afraid to share the truth. Lt Vermaak has been involved with the riot police for a number of years and this was certainly not his first rodeo – he has seen some horrific and scarring battles in his time.
According to the Daily Maverick
The police service dumped Vermaak because his version of what happened diverged from their official line.
Vermaak was the operation’s ‘eye in the sky’, the helicopter-based cop who would help co-ordinate and keep information flowing between the command centre and the various commanders on the ground. One of the key points Vermaak dismissed is that the miners were trying to attack the police lines. He said it was obvious that they simply ran down the mountain in an attempt to escape arrest. This version completely negates the police ‘disruption of the operational plan’ theme.
Although he has been dragged through all kinds of mud for this assertion he has stood firm and maintains his version of events are what he witnessed and experienced. This is an incredibly brave man especially in light of the horrific events he witnessed as a cop in the apartheid regime. This is what he said in his final statement – it is so profound we have included almost the whole verbatim quote.
Why I stood up for the truth and the members and families, since I was a commander from 1986 I made a promise to my members that I will not turn my back on them and I will face – at Stilfontein [a previous strike situation turned violent] I faced death in Stilfontein where striker people fired at me from a distance about of 10 metres. I know what it is to be in that situation when you have to protect yourself and your colleagues.
After that incident one of the members who was with us there, a young constable, committed suicide by shooting himself. I also know what it feels to stand next to the body of one of your colleagues and your members. I made a promise to myself that I will do anything in future to prevent the situation where a member of the public or a police member gets killed. That is why I stood up and tried my utmost best to prevent further loss of lives at Marikana.
It is not an easy decision to make, to stand up against the National Commissioner and other senior generals while you were trying to assist and to prevent such an incident. I know that I’m criticised but I stand for the truth.
Chair, I thank you and the Commissioners for the opportunity to address you. I also want to thank all the legal teams who was cross-examining me in the way they did. And also the families of the miners and the police members, they treated me very well and their appreciation for the truth, I thank them there for.”
[Source] Daily Maverick
