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Former National Party government spy Joe Mamasela and his accomplice Michael “Tebogo” Macitinga appeared before the Benoni regional court on Thursday to face multiple charges, including 15 counts of murder.
In addition, Mamasela, 74, and Macitinga, 66, face charges of:
- arson;
- kidnapping;
- unlawful possession of explosives;
- unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition; as well as
- defeating or obstructing the administration of justice.
The Hawks said the charges emanate from the serious organised crime investigation’s crimes against the state probe into allegations that came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC times) relating to three incidents:
Operation Zero Zero
Operation Zero Zero was an state-sanctioned operation in June 1985 that used booby-trapped hand grenades to assassinate young activists in Duduza, KwaThema and Tsakane on the then East Rand, now Ekurhuleni.
Nietverdiend 10
Nietverdiend 10 refers to the case of 10 youths killed in a joint South African Defence Force and security police operation in 1986. The youths, aged between 14 and 19, had been “recruited” by a security branch agent purporting to be an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) operative.
The TRC final report in 1998 stated that the youths left their Mamelodi homes on June 26 1986 believing they were being taken to Botswana for military training. Instead, they were driven to a spot close to the Botswana border where a team of SADF special forces operatives surrounded them and injected them with a chemical substance, rendering them unconscious.
Their vehicle was then driven towards an embankment, where it careened into a tree and burst into flames, killing all the occupants.
KwaNdebele Nine
The KwaNdebele Nine refers to an incident on the night of July 15 1986, just two weeks after the killing of the Nietverdiend 10, where nine youths were shot dead and their bodies set alight in a house in the then apartheid-era homeland of KwaNdebele, according to the TRC final report.
The youths had been expecting an alleged MK operative who had offered to provide them with arms and training but when they opened the door for him, Northern Transvaal hit squad members burst in. The young activists were lined up and shot.
Trial set for high court in February
“In all these incidences, the accused are alleged to have deceived the youths into believing they were participating in operations against the apartheid government. Instead they met their deaths at the hands of the suspect and two accomplices who allegedly operated from Vlakplaas under the command of Eugene de Kock,” Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said in a statement.
After their court appearance, Mamasela and Macitinga applied for bail. Bail was granted at R5,000 for Mamasela and Macitinga was released on warning.
The Hawks noted that by midnight on Thursday, the case would be 41 years old. It was transferred to the high court, sitting in Benoni, and postponed to February 1 2027.
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