Marikana Injustice

I appreciate the two share different weights on the scales of consequence, but further to learning that this country still kicks ministers out through a revolving door made of old and forgotten legal papers, South Africa's government is still using theirs to kick the poorest and most vulnerable members of their society into jail. The Marikana miners are to be collectively charged with the murder not only of the two police officers and two security guards that were killed outside the mine on August 16th, but also for the murder of six of their fellow protesters. That seems to me to represent the first injustice. The second, and most alarming, is the doctrine of "common purpose" that adds a steel cap to the boot of the backward and discredited justice system. One hopes that, thanks in part to the availability of video footage of the clash on the internet, South Africa is able to unite against the policemen responsible for applying unreasonable force, none of whom are currently held in custody, and the pathetically retrograde doctrine of "common purpose".