SA offers compensation for Marikana mine killings

The South African government has offered relatives of miners killed in the 2012 Marikana massacre the sum of 100m rand ($7.4m; £5.7m) in compensation.

Police shot dead 34 miners on strike over wages, saying they were acting in self-defence.

The shooting at the Lonmin platinum mine was the most deadly police incident since the end of apartheid in 1994, and shocked the nation. Ten others were killed in the days leading up to the mass shooting. The violence left 70 injured, and police arrested more than 200 others.

Families of the miners are being offered the settlement for general damages.

A group called the Socio-Economic Rights Institute represented more than 300 claimants who sued the government for loss of support and shock. It says it will consult the families about the offer.

Former President Jacob Zuma established a commission of inquiry led by a retired judge.

Its findings led to the removal of a police commissioner. It also recommended investigations into police conduct and exonerated senior political figures, including current President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was a director at Lonmin at the time.

He was alleged to have called for action to be taken against the wildcat strikers, but the commission said it found there was no evidence "even on a prima facie basis" that he was guilty of such allegations.