Radebe wants Marikana charges explained

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MARIKANA, South Africa, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- South Africa's justice minister has requested an explanation of why 270 miners were charged with murder when it was police who shot their fellow workers.

The miners were charged Thursday by state prosecutors under the apartheid-era "common purpose" doctrine, the BBC reported Friday.

They were arrested following an incident outside the Marikana platinum mine two weeks ago, during which police officers shot and killed 34 striking miners.

The decision to charge the miners has "induced a sense of shock, panic and confusion" among South Africans, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said.

Radebe said under the constitution, he "must exercise final responsibility over the prosecuting authority."

The justice minister then asked the head of the National Prosecuting Authority "to furnish me with a report explaining the rationale behind such a decision."

None of the police officers involved in the incident has been charged, pending a judicial inquiry and an internal police review, which may take several months to complete, the BBC said.

"The policemen who killed those people are not in custody, not even one of them. This is madness," Julius Malema , who was expelled as the African National Congress' youth leader this year following a series of disagreements with South African President Jacob Zuma.