Matthews "Mojo" Mabelane

Matthews Mabelane was born in 1954 in Soweto. He was the third born of six children. In 1958, our family was forcefully removed from our home in Sophiatown under the Natives Resettlement Act of 1954. The apartheid government relocated our family to Zone 1, Meadowlands where Matthews grew up.

As a teenager, he was affectionately nicknamed “Mojo” and attended Madibane High School in Diepkloof, a school known at the time for its strong academic results, competitive sports, and celebrated choirs. His brother, Lasch Mabelane, recalls him as outgoing, popular among his peers, and full of social charm.

While at Madibane, Matthews became politically active, joining fellow students in resisting apartheid policies. The school played a prominent role in the 1976 Soweto Uprisings, which were sparked by the government’s decision to enforce Afrikaans, alongside English, as a compulsory medium of instruction under the Bantu Education Act. It was in this climate of defiance that Matthews, like many of his peers, began organising and lending his voice to the struggle. He is known to have joined uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC.

He is remembered by his family in Enver Samuel’s documentary series Truth be Told as a lover of history and jazz, an elegantly dressed activist, and someone deeply committed to resisting apartheid.

Matthews attended Madibane High School in Diepkloof, Soweto, where he became politically active. Along with other Soweto students, he opposed apartheid policies affecting the daily lives of black South Africans. He joined the Soweto Students Representative Council (SSRC), led by Tsietsi Mashinini, who later died in exile under mysterious circumstances. Initially formed as an Action Committee of the South African Students Movement, the SSRC organised the 16 June 1976 Soweto student demonstrations, which met with brutal police violence.

During the uprisings, Matthews and fellow Madibane students mobilised against making Afrikaans a compulsory medium of instruction under the Bantu Education Act of 1953. On 13 June 1976, students met at Orlando Donaldson Community Hall to plan a peaceful protest for 16 June. In the following days, hundreds of students were shot by the South African Police (SAP).

After the demonstrations, the apartheid police hunted SSRC leaders, forcing Matthews into hiding. In late 1976, he joined uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the ANC’s armed wing, and left for Botswana in October for military training. On 21 January 1977, he was apprehended near Zeerust while re-entering South Africa and detained under section 6(1) of the Terrorism Act, shortly after Minister of Police Jimmy Kruger announced amnesty for returning youths.

After several unaccounted days, Matthews was booked into John Vorster Square Police Station on 27 January 1977. He was never charged with any criminal offence. Given the modus operandi of the Security Branch, it is likely that Matthews was subjected to torture prior to his detention at John Vorster Square.

Matthews was detained, interrogated, and most likely tortured for 19 days before he fell to his death from the infamous 10th floor of John Vorster Square on 15 February 1977. According to statements made by Security Branch members at the subsequent inquest, on 15 February 1977 at approximately 08h40, Matthews arrived at the interrogation room on the 10th floor for questioning. There were three officers in the room at the time, namely Warrant Officers Leana Viljoen and Petrus Daniel Jordaan and Sergeant Jacobus Johannes Cilliers. Shortly after the commencement of the interrogation, the questioning was interrupted. Whilst the interrogation was adjourned, the police members alleged that Matthews tried to escape by climbing out a window,  began walking along a ledge on the outer wall, when he lost his balance and fell.

When our family retrieved Matthews’ body from the government mortuary, Matthews’ father discovered a disturbing message in his trouser lining, warning: “Brother Lasch, tell mother and my other brothers that the police will push me from the tenth floor. I bid you farewell.”

An inquest (no. 287/77) was held on 30 May 1977 before Magistrate WP Dormehl, with prosecutor NJ van Vuren. Only police witnesses were called; the family was not allowed to present evidence, and no medical testimony beyond the state’s post-mortem report was heard. The court accepted the police version. Accordingly, Magistrate WP Dormehl found that Matthews died of multiple injuries which he sustained after he accidentally fell to his death from a ledge on the 10th floor of John Vorster Square. He concluded that there was nobody to blame for the death.

Matthews’ father, Reverend Phillip Mabelane, testified before the TRC, hoping it would uncover the truth about Matthews’s death. However, none of the police officers implicated in his death applied for amnesty. According to Philip Mabelane’s testimony before the TRC: On 16 February 1977, two detectives came to the Mabelane home and asked his father to accompany them to John Vorster Square: “We went to the tenth floor where they told me that my child was there and was interrogated and jumped through the window and fell down from the tenth floor. I asked how did he come through because he was in your hands. No, we just saw him, suddenly we saw him going through the window… After that, they told me that … I do not have the right to take any steps regarding this matter, according to the law. All I could do is for them to release the corpse to me that I should bury it myself. Truly, I did that, I buried my son.”

The TRC ultimately held the former state, the Minister of Police, and the Police Commissioner at the time responsible for his death in custody.

After Matthews’ death, his family was handed back his clothing. Inside the lining of his bloodied trousers, they discovered a note: “Brother Lasch, inform mom and my other brothers that the police are going to push me from the 10th floor and I am bidding you goodbye, forever”.

The family has never accepted the findings of the inquest court and, determined to uncover the truth, the Mabelane family pursued every possible lead. One such lead was a 1979 United Nations report, which dedicated two-and-a-half pages to Matthews’ death. The police inquiry had claimed that he forced open a window, climbed onto a ledge, and fell after ignoring calls to return. The UN dismissed this version outright, stating that “it would be absurd to suggest that he attempted to escape through a window of the tenth floor.” While a magistrate’s report reduced the incident to an accidental fall caused by “multiple injuries,” the UN concluded that responsibility for his death could not be pinned on any one person.

For decades, the family endured the trauma of falsified police accounts and official indifference. Matthews’ mother, who suffered acute depression after his death, passed away in 2001 without answers. His father, Phillip, died in 2018, still not knowing the truth. His brother Lasch, who faithfully attended nearly every hearing of the reopened Timol inquest in the hope that justice for Matthews would one day follow, died in 2020 without closure.

On 1 August 2024, the family’s legal team from the Bowmans Law representing the family pro bono, submitted detailed representations to the NPA seeking the reopening of the inquest. The representations included two expert forensic reports, which explained why the police version was untenable. In February 2025, the NPA notified the family that the Minister of Justice had formally authorised the reopening of the inquest.

Nearly half a century later, the Mabelane family continues to fight for truth and justice.