Latest news with #Gqeberha
Free Malaysia Today
17 hours ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
S. Africa reopens inquiry into deaths of apartheid-era activists
President Cyril Ramaphosa set up a judicial inquiry in April following claims of deliberate delays in prosecuting apartheid-era crimes. (AP pic) JOHANNESBURG : A South African court opened an inquest today into the murders 40 years ago of four anti-apartheid activists by a police hit squad in one of the most notorious atrocities of the apartheid era. No one has been brought to justice for the 1985 killings of the so-called Cradock Four, and their families have accused the post-apartheid government of intervening to block the case from going to trial. Teachers Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe and Sicelo Mhlauli and railway worker Sparrow Mkonto were abducted and killed while returning home from a political meeting in the southern town of Cradock. 'After 40 years, the families are still waiting for justice and closure,' advocate Howard Varney, representing relatives of the four men, told the court in an opening statement. 'We intend to demonstrate that the deaths of the Cradock Four were brought about by way of a calculated and premeditated decision of the apartheid regime taken at the highest level of the government's state security system,' Varney told the court in the Eastern Cape city of Gqeberha. The truth and reconciliation commission set up to uncover political crimes carried out under apartheid refused amnesty to six men for the Cradock Four killings. This left them open to prosecution but the post-apartheid authorities took no action, Varney said. This may have been in part due to a 'toxic mix of idleness, indifference, incapacity or incompetence' but the families also believed 'political forces intervened to block their cases from proceeding', he said. 'This inquest is probably the very last chance that the families will get to reach a semblance of closure. They deserve nothing less than a full and comprehensive accounting with the past,' the advocate said. It is the third inquest into the Cradock Four murders, which came at the height of the white-minority government's repression of anti-apartheid activists. Claims of deliberate delays in prosecuting apartheid-era crimes led president Cyril Ramaphosa to set up a judicial inquiry in April. In January, 25 families of victims and survivors of apartheid-era crimes, including the Cradock Four, announced they were suing the government over a 'gross failure' to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.
The Herald
20 hours ago
- General
- The Herald
St Andrew's seize their chances in exciting win over Grey
In a cracking affair on the Kolisi Field, St Andrew's College held on for a thrilling one-point win over Grey High, taking the schools rugby match 28-27 to register a rare away win over their Gqeberha rivals. They visitors shocked the Grey supporters when they broke through for two outstanding tries by Qhawe Madikizela and Aphindile Ngcuka to put them 12-0 in front by the 16th minute. The match was a fluctuating battle, but eventually Grey found a way through, largely through the magical feet of fullback Meyer Prinsloo, who scored an outstanding try in the 23rd minute as he bamboozled the visiting defence. That was followed by a pushover try for flank Cody Wilmot, but St Andrew's astutely created some scoreboard pressure through the accurate boot of Will Stevens. He knocked over two penalties to make it 18-10 at halftime and three minutes after the restart he added a third penalty. Grey's line-out did not function smoothly, with St Andrew's lock William Beamish poaching a number of balls at the front, but when it did, they were able to drive forward for Wilmot's second try. The visitors, however, were always innovative, often taking quick taps, and this resulted in Beamish storming over for a crucial try from about 15 metres out. The superb touchline conversion by Stevens was significant because it put them eight points ahead, which was just as well for them because Prinsloo was again at it soon after the restart. Receiving the ball on the halfway line, the Grey fullback swiftly sized up his options and again sliced through the visitors' defence for his second score of the match. He slotted the conversion to make it a one-point ballgame, but neither side could add any further points during the last 10 minutes and it was St Andrew's who erupted with joy at the end. — The Herald
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
Inquest into notorious apartheid-era killings opens in South Africa
An inquest into one of the most notorious killings of South Africa's apartheid era opened on Monday with a former general denying that he ordered the deaths of four men who became known as the Cradock Four. Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto were stopped at a roadblock on 27 June 1985 by security officers and beaten, strangled with telephone wire, stabbed and shot to death. Inquests into the killings of the four activists were held in 1987 and 1993, before South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. In 1999, the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission refused six security officers amnesty for their role in the killings. They were never prosecuted and have all since died. Howard Varney, a lawyer for relatives of the Cradock Four, said in his opening statement to the inquest, at the high court in the city of Gqeberha: 'These were four young men who had so much to offer South Africa. The searing pain of their absence persists with the families to this day.' At one of the previous inquests, it was revealed that Joffel van der Westhuizen, the former military commander of what was then the Eastern Province, sent a message to the apartheid regime's state security council requesting permission to 'remove permanently from society as a matter of urgency' the 'agitators'. Another general who received the message argued that this meant detaining the men, not killing them. In an opening statement, Van der Westhuizen's lawyer said 'he denies ever authorising or ordering the killing of the deceased'. The lawyer said the former general was 'not in a very healthy condition' and had so far not been able to get the South African military to pay his legal costs. The lawyer argued that witnesses, who include nine family members of the Cradock Four, could not give evidence that implicated Van der Westhuizen unless he had funded legal representation. Judge Thami Beshe ruled that in the first part of the inquest, which will last until 12 June, witnesses could refer to Van der Westhuizen and three former police officers who are also still alive, as long as they only used information in the public domain. Calata's son, Lukhanyo Calata, said: 'Today is emotional. Good emotion. We've waited so many years to finally get to this point, where a court in democratic South Africa finally gets to hear the Cradock Four case.' Lukhanyo, who is a journalist, noted that some Afrikaners, the white minority that ruled South Africa during apartheid and the same ethnicity as his father's killers, were promoting the false claim that there was a 'genocide' against them, a claim amplified by US president Donald Trump. He added: 'What we are hoping for now is to correct the historic record.' Nombuyiselo Mhlauli, the 73-year-old widow of Sicelo, said: 'We are just hoping that we will reach that stage where we process our grief. Because, since all these years, we are living in our grief.' The relatives of the Cradock Four are among 25 families who in January sued the government for not prosecuting apartheid-era killers. In April, the country's president Cyril Ramaphosa set up an inquiry into whether past democratic governments interfered with investigations and prosecutions. However, the families have criticised the inquiry, as it only has fact-finding powers and cannot award damages. The inquest continues on Tuesday with a visit to the home of Goniwe in the town of Cradock, now called Nxuba, and the site between there and Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, where the men were abducted.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
South Africa reopens inquiry into murders of 4 apartheid-era activists by police hit squad
A South African court opened an inquest on Monday into the murders 40 years ago of four anti-apartheid activists by a police hit squad in one of the most notorious atrocities of the apartheid era. No one has been brought to justice for the 1985 killings of the so-called Cradock Four, and their families have accused the post-apartheid government of intervening to block the case from going to trial. Teachers Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe and Sicelo Mhlauli and railway worker Sparrow Mkonto were abducted and killed while returning home from a political meeting in the southern town of Cradock. 'After 40 years, the families are still waiting for justice and closure,' Advocate Howard Varney, representing relatives of the four men, told the court in an opening statement. 'We intend to demonstrate that the deaths of the Cradock Four were brought about by way of a calculated and premeditated decision of the apartheid regime taken at the highest level of the government's state security system,' Varney told the court in the Eastern Cape city of Gqeberha. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up to uncover political crimes carried out under apartheid refused amnesty to six men for the Cradock Four killings.
News24
2 days ago
- General
- News24
Cradock Four inquest: Brutal murders were ‘calculated and premeditated', court told
Four anti-apartheid activists - Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli - were abducted and brutally murdered by apartheid security forces in June 1985. The families of the victims still seek justice 40 years later despite two previous inquests identifying security forces as responsible for the killings of the Cradock Four. The current inquest at the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha will continue until 12 June, including site visits to the Goniwe family home, Cradock Four Monument, and the scene of abduction. The murder of the Cradock Four by the apartheid regime's security forces was calculated and premeditated, the inquest into the deaths of the anti-apartheid activists heard on the first day of its reopening on Monday. The inquest is being held at the Eastern Cape High Court in Gqeberha. Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, popularly known as the Cradock Four, were abducted and viciously murdered by the South African security police in June 1985. This was after they were detained at a roadblock near Gqeberha. The first inquest was opened in 1987 and concluded in February 1989 with no prosecution. A second inquest in 1994 was presided by Judge Neville Zietsman who found security forces responsible for the murders and established that a case of suspicion had been made out against police officers and members of South African Defence Force (SADF). Despite the findings, no action was taken against them. On behalf of the families of the victims, Howard Varney from law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, said it was unfortunate that 40 years later, the families were still waiting for justice. Varney said the victims were murdered as part of apartheid regime's ruthless campaign against those mobilising resistance against the oppression. He added: These were four young men who had so much to offer South Africa. They were visionaries and leaders. They were deeply loved and treasured by their families, friends and comrades. 'We intend to demonstrate that the deaths of the Cradock Four were brought about by a way of a calculated and premeditated decision by the apartheid regime. It was meticulously planned by the security branch in an official operation.' Varney added that the Eastern Cape, Cradock in particular, was an epicentre of the fight back against apartheid. 'We believe that the role of the state security council in authorising or approving the elimination of the Cradock Four should be closely investigated by this inquest,' Varney added. Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, SC, who represents some Goniwe family members and the Cradock community, said there was a possibility the 'full truth' could be told in the third inquest. 'There is also a possibility of closure from a perspective of psychological trauma,' he added. The inquest, which is expected to continue until 12 June, will include an inspection in loco at the Goniwe family home in Nxuba (formerly Cradock), the Cradock Four Monument and the Olifantskop Pass - the scene of the abduction of the four, about 89km from Gqeberha. Families of the victims, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi attended the proceedings on Monday. Judge Nomathamsanqa Beshe said the purpose of an inquest was to establish whether the death of anyone who died of something other natural causes has been brought about by any act involving or amounting to an offence on the part of any person or persons. 'In the previously held inquests, the presiding officers concluded or held that the deaths of the Cradock Four were brought about by an unknown person or persons. I will be required to make a finding as to whether the deaths were brought about by an act or omission prima facie involving or amounting to an offence on the part of any person or persons.'
