PRESS RELEASE
To: All Media
ATT: News Editors, Human Rights Reporters
For Immediate Release
29 May 2026
Family members of the Cradock Four apply for an Order of Contempt of Court against Acting Secretary of Defence, Dr Thobekile Gamede
Statement by the Foundation for Human Rights
The families of the murdered Cradock Four activists have issued a Contempt of Court application against South Africa’s Acting Secretary of Defence, Dr Thobekile Gamede and the Department of Defence (DOD). This comes after the Department of Defence failed to comply with a court order issued by the judge presiding over the inquest, Justice Bushe, to disclose key documents pertaining to the case.
The families argue that the DOD willfully and intentionally refused to declassify the documents, in contravention of Justice Beshe’s court order. The documents in question were generated between 1982 and 1987 and are currently held by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). They remain classified under apartheid-era legislation enacted by the former South African Defence Force, an institution that systematically violated the rights of South Africans in service of an unjust regime.
The DOD claims that the unredacted and unrestricted release will prejudice South Africa’s security and compromise intelligence methods, sources and operational capabilities of the SANDF. They do not explain how documents generated in the 1980s to deal with security threats to the apartheid state will impact national security today, more than 4 decades later (particularly where such institutions no longer exist).
The families assert that the DOD is improperly seeking to block investigations into the past – and is attempting to protect the erstwhile SADF and its officials from scrutiny.
The families have also asked the Court to set aside the security classifications as irrational and arbitrary since there can be no rational basis to maintain such secrecy in a constitutional democracy.
The current contempt application marks another step in the families’ ongoing legal efforts to gain access to the documents, which began in 2021 when the first request was submitted. Rather than taking reasonable measures to declassify and release the documents, the Department of Defence has maintained that the documents remain classified and that only redacted versions may be accessed under highly restrictive conditions.
These conditions include that the documents, which run to approximately 13,000 pages, may be viewed in redacted, hard copy only, in a secure location, without the ability to copy or share them, or refer to them in open court. These conditions make it effectively impossible for the documents to be used in the inquest, which seeks to investigate the circumstances of the Cradock Four’s deaths and who is responsible.
As the next sitting of the re-opened Cradock Four inquest approaches on 6 July 2026, full and timely access to these records is essential to a fair judicial process. The continued withholding of these documents under apartheid-era secrecy laws in not only unlawful, but also frustrates the families’ and the public’s ability to fully uncover the truth about the Cradock Four killings, 41 years later.
Media Contacts:
Foundation for Human Rights: Jessie Waldman, jwaldman@fhr.org.za/ +27 78 644 8258
Cliffe Dekker Hoffmeyr: Luke Kleinsmidt, Luke.Kleinsmidt@cdhlegal.com/ +27 214816385
Background:
The Cradock Four is a collective name given to Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkonto, who were anti-apartheid activists abducted and murdered by members of the Security Branch on 27 June 1985. Two separate inquests, in 1987 and 1993, failed to do justice to the Cradock Four families by identifying the Security Branch officers involved in the abduction and murder. In 1999, eight former Security Branch officers applied for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in relation to the Cradock Four case, but it was only granted for two, who had played a peripheral role.
In 2025, the third inquest into the Cradock Four was opened before the High Court (Eastern Cape Division, Gqeberha) as part of the families’ ongoing efforts to uncover the truth and secure accountability for the killings. The Cradock Four families are represented by Luke Kleinsmidt and Denzil Mhlongo of Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Attorneys, Adv Howard Varney SC, and Adv Mohammad Zakaria Suleman.
The Cradock Four families are parties to constitutional damages litigation against the government, National Prosecuting Authority and South African Police Service. They are suing for the violation of their constitutional rights due to the delays and political interference in investigating and prosecuting the Cradock Four case, and other TRC cases. They also form part of the Calata group, which is participating in the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry looking into the suppression of TRC cases.
