1. 1. The Marikana Killings Timeline of a tragedy
2. 2. 9 - 11 August 2012 A number of employees from Lonmin Mine go on strike demanding a wage increase. Employees who turn up for duty report incidents of intimidation and assault. Two employees are shot and taken to hospital for treatment. Faction fights occur. Reports of three more employees, shot in the hostels in separate incidents, surface.
3. 3. 12 13 August 2012 Five employees are shot and taken to hospital while others are assaulted. Two mine security officers are hacked to death by protesters and their vehicles torched. Striking workers infiltrate production areas, assaulting three on-duty employees, fatally wounding one and torching six motor vehicles at the plant.
4. 4. 12 - 13 August 2012 Three dead bodies of mine workers are found. SAPS members are attacked while escorting the protesters. Two SAPS members are hacked to death and one critically wounded. Three protesters are fatally wounded in police response to the attack.
5. 5. 15 August 2012 Mineral Resources Minister, Susan Shabangu says she is gravely concerned about the violent protests at Marikana. Police and striking mineworkers attempt to negotiate a truce with miners on a hill which had become a gathering point for the mineworkers near the Lonmin mine.
6. 6. 16 August 2012 Police open fire on miners, leaving 34 dead and 78 wounded. More than 250 people are arrested. Lonmin says it has lost six days or 15,000 ounces of platinum at Marikana and is unlikely to meet its full-year production target of 750,000 ounces.
7. 7. 17 August 2012 National Police Commissioner General Riah Phiyega confirms that 34 people were killed at Marikana, 78 were injured and 259 were arrested. President Jacob Zuma leaves the SADC summit in Mozambique to visit the site of the massacre.
8. 8. 23 August 2012 The Marikana Commission of Inquiry is appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate events arising out of the tragic incidents at the Lonmin Mine in Marikana. The country observes a national day of mourning.
9. 9. 30 August 2012 Authorities charge the 270 arrested workers with the murder of their colleagues shot on 16 August. The charges are later withdrawn.
10. 10. 18 September 2012 Workers at Marikana secure pay increases of between 11 and 22%, and agree to end the strike.
11. 11. 1 October 2012 The Marikana Commission of Inquiry opens in Rustenburg.