admin
JOHANESBURG. – Solicitor-general Fhedzisani Pandelani said the State does not have a “slush fund” for Marikana-related claims it cannot substantiate.
Pandelani yesterday briefed the media on the State’s progress with the litigation cases, saying it had paid R330 million to all the affected families.
He claimed that the lawyers representing them brought extended relatives who sought compensation from the State.
He questioned the merits of these claims, saying the State would be accused of squandering taxpayer money if it entertained them.
“If you are going to bring me a busload of people and say they were related to [to the victims], what is required of you to prove [this]? There is no slush fund that is awaiting to settle claims that traditionally, we don’t recognise in our law irrespective of the number of damages,” he said.
He said the claims the State did not recognise in common law were filed by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI), representing 36 families.
He said the institute, which received R71.2 million, later introduced “the new concept” of constitutional damages.
“The money [R71.2 million] is gone from Treasury. The same grouping says, ‘we have relatives, and we want to claim for constitutional damages’,” he said, adding that the state needed to conclude the litigation.
Nomzamo Zondo, executive director at SERI, told News24 the institute was shocked to hear the SG’s claims.
She said the institute represented more than 300 people from the 36 families it represented in the first summons issued to the state in August 2015. – News24.com
Online Reporter