TRC crimes: a betrayal of justice
THE funeral of the anti-apartheid activists Mathew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, collectively known as the Cradock Four in 1985. The four were abducted from a roadblock, assaulted and their bodies set alight. More than 16,000 people in 160 buses, and thousands more in private cars and bakkies, descended on Cradock (now Nxuba) in the Eastern Cape for the funeral of the community leaders on July 20, 1985. Their story is one of many of apartheid-era's unsolved crimes.
Sandile Mdadane is the Editor of the Sunday Tribune
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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) referred over 300 apartheid-era crimes for further investigation and prosecution to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in its final report, where amnesty was denied against the perpetrators.
There are allegations of political interference by ministers and senior officials under former president Thabo Mbeki's administration in stymying efforts by the NPA to act.
Twenty-five families of the victims of apartheid-era crimes are seeking R167 million in constitutional damages against the government.
Mbeki and former Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla approached the court to intervene, a move that was rejected by the court.
President Cyril Ramaphosa wants to delay the matter so that the government can reinstate its opposition in the case. The court has reserved its judgment.
Both Mbeki and Mabandla approached the court because they believed their intervention was necessary to protect their reputations. The families and the Foundation of Human Rights argued their suit was against state functionaries and not individuals.
There are many ways to read this situation. It may speak to the unresolved tensions within the ANC and the state's accountability post-1994.
President Ramaphosa's reluctance highlights the political risk of exposing inconvenient truths that might not only stain the apartheid regime but also reveal post-apartheid complicity in denying justice to victims.
Many apartheid-era crimes involved collusion between political operatives, the police and the military. The reluctance to prosecute could be to protect operatives who played both sides during the Struggle, who might still be active in the political arena.
Victims of these crimes continue to feel the betrayal as justice remains elusive. The government's inaction undermines the TRC, placing South Africa's human rights commitment in doubt.
The case has the potential to also be a huge embarrassment on the world stage for a country that approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over the war in Gaza but failed to act on human rights abuse cases at home.
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In dismissing the Mbeki application the court found that 'it cannot be in issue that there was political interference in the prosecution of the TRC cases. Our Courts have found this to be so, and those findings stand and are binding. For this reason, the argument advanced for the Calata applicants that there would be no need for a specific finding against either Mr Mbeki or Ms Mabandla, is, to my mind, entirely sound. The issue has been decided.' However, before the core damages case can be heard there remains another delaying issue, an application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government opposing the R167 million damages claim by the 25 families and survivors of apartheid-era crimes filed in January. 'In addition, the government is requesting either a postponement or a stay of the main application, pending the outcome of a judicial commission of inquiry promulgated on 29 May 2025 (to look into why many of the apartheid-era crimes were not prosecuted in spite of recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission),' the foundation said in a statement. These cases include the murder of the Cradock Four — Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto, and Sicelo Mhlauli — members of the United Democratic Front and other community organisations fighting apartheid whose killings shocked the nation in 1985. Concern over commission's scope 'While the families, survivors, and the FHR welcomed the establishment of the commission of inquiry, they have raised serious concerns about its Terms of Reference. Specifically, they argue that the commission's mandate should be limited to examining the mechanics of political interference, how it occurred and who was implicated. They object to the inclusion of matters relating to the determination of rights violations and the potential award of constitutional damages,' the FHR said in the statement. Explaining what the main issue in court on Wednesday will be about, FHR executive director Zaid Kimmie told the Pretoria News that the 'sticking point' is that the government wanted to 'lump all of our other questions into this commission', in particular the question of damages. He said if they were to be made to wait until the conclusion of the commission to have their damages claim dealt with, it would possibly mean a delay of a couple of years. 'We all want the commission of inquiry to go ahead, but we would like to focus very narrowly on how that political interference happened and who, if anyone, was liable for the political interference,' said Kimmie. The foundation and the Calata applicants 'strongly oppose' the government's application as they also opposed the Mbeki-Mabandla application for its potential to delay matters and 'muddy the waters'. Kimmie said, if the government gets its way in court, 'everything will just be held in abeyance' for another 6-8 months until the commission completes its work, and then they would, unfortunately have to come back to court afterwards. 'I don't think that we are asking for an unreasonable amount of compensation. It's a hundred-and-sixty-seven million (rand). I believe the government will spend close to that amount just on the commission of inquiry,' he said. 'An ideal output for us would be for the state to accept its responsibility, to accept that the violations occurred and that the state was responsible for those violations, and compensate - pay the compensation so that these families can go ahead and seek truth and justice in their particular cases,' he said. 'Unfortunately, it looks like we have to fight every step of the way.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'This is just a delay' 'From our perspective, this is just a delay in what we think … inevitably the state will have to account for its past — omissions? And all this is doing is making the families wait and causing them additional grief and trauma, rather than dealing with the matter immediately.' He said the government representatives initially seemed to understand and sympathise with the families and recognise the miscarriage of justice, but on the other hand they did not seem to want to proceed and either accede to the demands or negotiate in good faith with the families. He said this was 'very disappointing', but remained hopeful that things would be set right in court and that the damages issue would be settled, allowing the commission to focus on its work. 'The central issue for the families is, in many cases there are no longer any perpetrators to prosecute, all of the witnesses have died, and so, the possibility for justice has passed. And what they want now is an accounting for why that happened.' He said since 2017, a small number of such cases have been brought to prosecution by the National Prosecuting Authority. These include the COSAS 4, Caiphus Nyoka and Nokuthula Simelane cases. 'But so much more would've been possible to have been done in the early 2000s had the state taken those opportunities (that existed then). 'So, even 20 years later, it is still possible to prosecute, albeit a far smaller number of cases, but had the state done its job back then so many of these people would've been prosecuted and the families would have seen justice.' 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