Officiating ministers at the memorial service
South African President Jacob Zuma has given details of the commission that will investigate the circumstances around the deaths of 44 people at the Marikana platinum mine.
The actions of mining company Lonmin, the government, police, unions, and individuals will all be examined, reports the BBC.
Thousands of people, some crying uncontrollably, earlier attended a memorial service for the dead.
Thirty-four were shot dead by police during a strike over pay last week.
Previously 10 people, two of them police officers, had died in violent clashes.
Reports of worker action at two other platinum mines have added to industry fears that the unrest is spreading.
The price of platinum has jumped amid concerns about disruptions to supply.
Preachers, church leaders and traditional leaders took turns to pay their respects to the 44 killed.
The mood was one of terrible grief and loss with some relatives passing out, and many of the women crying uncontrollably. At one point the health minister was seen supporting some of those who had collapsed in tears.
There is a palpable sense of anger too - particularly directed at the government. One woman said: "We are expected to grieve our men yet it was the government who sent the police to kill us - they killed our men within minutes."
The police have kept their distance from the site - there is no visible police presence. The miners had warned them to stay away as tensions remain high and there are rumours that some in the community want to take revenge.
The commission "has been directed to investigate matters of public, national and international concern rising out of the events in Marikana which led to the deaths of approximately 44 people, the injury of more than 70 persons and the arrest of more than 250 people," Zuma said in a televised statement.
He said the commission would have the power to enter premises, compel witnesses to appear and demand documents. Not only security issues but issues surrounding labour policies and working conditions would also come under its remit, he added.
Retired appeals court judge Ian Farlam will head the three-person commission, along with two other senior advocates who are also former judges, reported Agence France-Presse.
The commission should complete its work within four months, Zuma said, and submit a final report a month afterwards.
Rob Davies, South Africa's trade and industry minister, said the actions of the actions of the police would be investigated with "considerable depth".
"The inquiry will have to establish the chain of responsibility, who did what wrong and hold anybody who did wrong to account. I think that is a correct process in a democratic society - that if actions are taken against people they have to be on the basis of evidence," Davies told the BBC's Hardtalk programme.
The deadly clashes have thrown South Africa into a frenzy of outrage and grief, say correspondents.
Many relatives have asked how the police - faced with strikers wielding machetes and clubs - could have killed so many in response.