The families of the victims of apartheid-era atrocities said they were saddened by the decades it took for the democratic government to seek truth and justice.
They also said they were heartbroken to learn that political interference, perpetrated by officials in high positions, was the cause of the delay in investigating and prosecuting the apartheid crimes.
The families are suing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration for failure to adequately prosecute apartheid-era political crimes. They also seek an order compelling the president to establish an independent and public commission of inquiry into the political interference that resulted in the suppression of several hundred serious crimes arising from South Africa’s past.
The applicants are the survivors of the Highgate Hotel Massacre, Neville Beling and Karl Weber; as well as the family members of the Cradock Four, Richard and Irene Motasi, Caiphus Nyoka, the Pebco Three, the Cosas Four, Nokuthula Simelane, Rick Turner, Musawakhe "Sbho" Phewa, Hoosen Haffejee, Mxolisi "Dicky" Jacobs, Imam Abdullah Haron, Deon Harris, Matthews "Mojo" Mabelane, Ntombikayise Priscilla Khubeka, Ignatius "Iggy" Mthebule and Nicholas Ramatua "Boiki" Tlhapi.
Tryphina Mokgatle, the youngest sister of Zandisile Musi, who was one of the activists known as Cosas Four, three of whom were killed in 1982 but her brother survived, filed an affidavit expressing her disappointment about the time it took for the NPA to act after the TRC had refused amnesty to her brother’s attackers.
Mokgatle represents the family of her late brother and the other Cosas Four families.
The four activists from Kagiso were lured by a person they thought was an activist to a pump house where a bomb detonated, killing three. Zandisile survived and was hospitalised before being into custody and interrogated for six weeks without trial.
Mokgatle said police informed their families that her brother was behind the explosion.
“Noting that the Cosas Four were friends, the fabrications by the police caused deep resentment by the other families towards our families,” she said.
Mokgatle said in the aftermath of the explosion, Zandisile could not speak to anyone about what had happened. She said after her brother had told her story to the TRC, the officers involved in the attack applied for amnesty and were refused amnesty.
“It was only in 1996 at the TRC that Zandisile first spoke about the incident. It is only at the TRC that the other families met Zandisile and learnt the truth of what happened to the Cosas Four.”
It was the promise of the TRC that those who were refused amnesty would be referred for prosecution, she said.
“As such, it was our hope that the NPA would undertake this task without delay.”
She said instead of timeously prosecuting those who were refused amnesty, there was a deafening silence from the NPA.
Mokgatle said the killers of the Cosas Four roamed free, and one of them, Ephraim Mfalapitsa, carried on with his life and assumed the role of a pastor.
Encouraged by a number of reopened inquests into the deaths of other anti-apartheid activists, the families approached the Foundation for Human Rights for assistance.
In September 2019, the families asked the Hawks and the NPA to investigate the case. After what they perceived as inaction from the Hawks, the families filed an application with the Krugersdorp magistrate’s court in 2020 for the disinterment and forensic examination of the bodies.
“This prompted the [Hawks] and the NPA to take action.”
She said as a result of the NPA’s inaction over decades, only Mfalapitsa and Christiaan Rorich were still alive. The NPA belatedly decided to prosecute them for the murder of the three and the attempted murder of her brother.
It was with deep shock that the families learnt that the prosecutions had been politically suppressed, for reasons unknown to them, she said. It had been a wish of her brother to see those responsible face justice.
When we heard about political interference in the TRC case, it opened our eyes as to why there was never any progress in Dicky's case. We are appalled and shocked that the government we supported closed down the investigation into our cases
— Bonakele Jacobs, brother of Mxolisi “Dicky” Jacobs
“He was robbed of seeing justice done as he died on July 28 2021 when he was 57.”
Fatiema Haron-Masoet, the youngest daughter of the late Imam Abdullah Haron, said her father was a prominent leader in the Muslim community, who was committed to justice and equality during apartheid. He died in police custody in 1969, and police alleged he died of his injuries after a fall from a flight of stairs at Maitland police station. An inquest in 1970 determined that no-one was to blame for Haron’s death and that the cause of death was the fall.
Haron-Masoet said her family, especially her mother, was shattered by her father's death.
“Most painful was that we never really knew what transpired while my father was detained. We could only imagine what he had to endure from stories of those who interacted with our father during his time in detention,” she said.
The bruises, lesions and gashes that were discovered on his body at the ritual cleansing before his burial revealed the extent of his suffering at the hands of the Security Branch, she said. Her family did not participate in the TRC process, nor did those who were involved in his murder apply for amnesty.
In December 2019 and three months after her mother had died, the family asked for the reopening of the inquest into her father's death. This was granted in 2022 and in October 2023 the court overturned the findings of the 1970 inquest and concluded his death was attributable to the cumulative effect of the injuries that he suffered under torture.
The court held that the Security Branch was responsible for her father's death and named seven officers, six of whom have died. The family decided not to seek a prosecution against the surviving former Security Branch officer.
“As thankful as we are of the reopened inquest, we are saddened by the decades that it took for democratic authorities to seek truth and justice.”
She said when comparing themselves to other families, her family had been privileged in the truth-seeking process.
“We think of many other activists who were killed by the apartheid regime, whose families, such as those who are joined in this application, have not found truth, justice or closure in the decades following the deaths of their loved ones.”
Bonakele Jacobs, whose brother Mxolisi “Dicky” Jacobs, died in police custody after being in detention for 129 days in 1986, said Upington Security Branch members picked them up form their home on June 12 1986.
Both were kept in solitary confinement in cells next to each other. Though they could not see each other, they could speak. Dicky died on October 22 1986, and Bonakele was released a month later. Bonakele said his family was told Dicky had committed suicide by hanging.
Bonakele said his father, grandfather and two aunts made statements to the TRC in 1996. No one applied for amnesty for his death.
He said the TRC recognised Dicky as a victim of gross human rights violations and his mother received a R30,000 one-off payment.
Bonakele said his family had never stopped pursuing justice for Dicky. His grandfather wrote several letters to former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. He said Mbeki made promises that authorities would look into the matter but that never materialised.
He said the family had been affected by the state's failure to take up Dicky's case timeously. His grandfather died in 2015 without closure and his mother, who is now 74, might never get closure for the death of his son.
“When we heard about political interference in the TRC case, it opened our eyes as to why there was never any progress in Dicky's case. We are appalled and shocked that the government we supported closed down the investigation into our cases.”
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