S. Africa judges to probe killing at mine

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- President Jacob Zuma appointed a judicial commission yesterday to probe the killing of 34 Lonmin mine workers by police as government officials left a memorial service after it was disrupted by chanting unionists.

The commission of inquiry will be chaired by Ian Farlam, a retired Supreme Court of Appeal judge, Zuma told reporters in Pretoria. The group will investigate the conduct of police, labor unions and Lonmin Plc, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, before and during the Aug. 16 violence at the Marikana mine, the deadliest police action since the end of apartheid. Before the shooting, 10 died in fighting during an illegal strike that began Aug. 10.

About a fifth of global platinum production capacity was idled in South Africa as workers mourned the deaths. Impala Platinum Holdings, the second-largest producer, suspended work for a day at its Rustenburg operation to let workers attend memorial services, it said. Rustenburg and Lonmin's Marikana tap the world's biggest platinum field, the Bushveld Complex, northwest of Johannesburg.

"The commission shall complete its work within a period of four months and must submit its final report within a month" of finishing its investigation, Zuma said. Bantubonke Tokota and Pingla Hemraj, both judges, are the other members, he said.

The memorial service was disrupted after Julius Malema, the expelled president of the youth league of the ruling African National Congress, told the crowd that Zuma's government was responsible for the deaths.

Demonstrators marched in front of the stage, chanting and carrying traditional fighting sticks. Government officials then left before proceedings were complete.

Zuma declared a week of mourning after police fired on protesting workers armed with machetes, spears and pistols. The police said they were fired upon. About 6,000 people attended the service at Marikana, where family members of those killed performed burial rituals in the field where the miners were shot. Strike leaders led the crowd in war songs and vowed to continue demands for wage increases.