An inquiry into the gunning down of 34 striking miners at South Africa's Marikana platinum mine has found that the police operation should not have been carried out because it was defective, President Jacob Zuma said Thursday.

"The commission found that the police operation should not have taken place on 16 August because of the defects in the plan," Zuma said as he released a judiciary report on the 2012 Marikana shooting.