BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 270 mine workers in South Africa were charged with the murder of 34 of their colleagues following a massacre at Marikana platinum mine on August 16th. At a news conference Sunday, the South African commission said that President Jacob Zuma "will not interfere" in its work.

Collins Chabane, Minister of Presidency on the Inter Ministerial Committee, said, "President Zuma will not interfere in the work of the Marikana Commission or any other processes, including the prosecution of persons associated with the tragedy. The president is required to uphold the constitution at all times and he respects the independence of all institutions created to ensure the smooth functioning of our constitutional democracy, including those in the legal sphere."

Susan Shabangu, Minister of Mineral Resources, said, "Mine workers live a double life. They have families in their rural communities, which they must still continue to maintain. And you also have a worker who’s been displaced from the family which he must still take care of and come and work. And it’s clear, as they’ve done with the hostel system in the past. Even today, they never said that municipalities must take responsibilities."

Sunday’s announcement followed a barrage of criticism from political parties, trade unions, civil society and legal experts. Even the justice minister had challenged the prosecutor’s decision to charge the arrested miners under an apartheid-era law that opened President Zuma’s government to accusations that it was acting like former brutal rulers.

(Source: CNTV.cn)