The appearance of a group of Lonmin mineworkers stalled in the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate's Court on Tuesday due to a power cut.

The court was hearing argument by prosecutor Nigel Carpenter, who had requested a seven day postponement of their bail hearing. He said evidence gathered by the State so far was not sufficient to warrant debating the merits and demerits of releasing the detained mineworkers.

Magistrate Esau Bodigelo adjourned proceedings, without saying when they would resume.

As the power went off, police officers and security guards stood around the miners, watching them closely.

A batch of 28 men of the 260 arrested appeared in court on Tuesday.

On Monday, the court heard that because all the accused could not appear at the same time, a representative had been selected from each police station where they were being held. These men would convey what transpired to their colleagues in detention.

They were arrested after a shooting and protests near Lonmin's Marikana mine in the North West on August 16 which left 34 people dead.

The miners face charges including public violence and murder.

Benches on the left side of the court were reserved for the miners and dozens of police officers. The media and a few other people were on the right.

Lesego Mmusi, for the miners, told the court on Monday that they should be released to allow them access to life-saving medicine for chronic diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/Aids.

"These people have been detained from August 16. Today they spent the day sitting in police trucks. I am not sure if they got food," he said.

The State insisted it wanted a postponement of the bail hearing to allow ongoing investigations to proceed.