The shooting resulted in 34 mineworkers being killed while 78 others were injured as the workers had embarked on an illegal strike demanding to be paid at least R12,500 salary a month.

11 years later the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) has lambasted the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for delaying the prosecution for the gruesome killings of the 34 mineworkers.

The institute, which represents widows and families of the mineworkers, says the NPA does not take the plight of the families seriously and that it is shocking that the NPA has not decided to bring any legal action, despite having received dockets from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) some time ago.

Nomzamo Zondo of SERI explained that the NPA does not take the plight of the family seriously as the IPID has confirmed to them that the dockets have been handed over to the NPA.

Meanwhile, the NPA has blamed this on a shortage of Human Resources, with spokesperson Henry Mamothame alluding that the voluminous docket which was initially dealt with at the NPA national office, was returned to the North West division for decision mid-2022.

“At the time, the division had a challenge on unfilled vacancies, which resulted in the slow process of studying the docket and that has since been resolved by the filling of posts in 2023 and the team has been assembled to study the massive docket to fast track the finalization of reaching the decision on the direction that is to be taken," Mamothame said.

The Association of Mineworkers & Construction Union (AMCU) President Joseph Mathunjwa is expected to deliver key note address on Wednesday the 16th of August 2023 flanked by the widows of the 34 deceased mineworkers, while messages from both the survivors of the massacre and the widows of the deceased will also be heard.