Marikana victims threaten to sue South African state The lawyer representing the miners injured in Marikana in 2012, when a South African police operation left 34 mine workers dead, said there was "widespread unhappiness and bitter disappointment" after the findings of a commission of inquiry were made public. Dali Mpofu, the lawyer representing injured miners, said that they would pursue the issue in court. IMAGES and SOUNDBITES.