Media Advisory
30 June 2025
SANDF Legal Head Subpoenaed in Cradock Four Reopened Inquest
The Head of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Legal Services has been subpoenaed to appear in the Gqeberha High Court tomorrow, 1 July 2025, at 10.00 am to account for the military’s refusal to fund the legal representation of former Lieutenant General Christoffel Pierre “Joffel” van der Westhuizen.
Masilo Brian Lekoloana, the Deputy Director of Litigation of the SANDF will appear on behalf of the Head of SANDF Legal Services.
Van der Westhuizen, now 83, was the commanding officer of the Eastern Province Command and a member of the Joint Management Committee, a structure of the State Security Council (SSC) at the time of the murders. He ordered the signal on 7 June 1985 to urgently “permanently remove” the Cradock 4 “from society” be sent to the head of the Secretariat of the SSC.
In 1994, the second inquest, under Judge Neville Zietsman, found that it had been established prima facie that the murderers were members of the security forces; and that a “case of suspicion” has been made out against certain police and army officers, including Van der Westhuizen. Judge Zietsman found that the signal was intended to mean that Matthew Goniwe and the others should be killed and also that this was the meaning that Brigadier van der Westhuizen intended should be conveyed in the signal.
Van der Westhuizen never applied for amnesty before the TRC.
The third inquest into the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four, Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, resumed in the Gqeberha High Court between 2 to 11 June 2025. This phase included only the testimonies of the victims’ families and their witnesses. Testimony from former state officials, including van der Westhuizen, is currently scheduled to proceed from 13 to 24 October 2025. However, there is a risk of further postponement unless the issue of legal funding for the implicated former officials is resolved.
Van der Westhuizen is reportedly in poor health and the families fear that unless he testifies soon, they may be denied hearing from him.
ENDS
