MEDIA RELEASE – For immediate release
23 January 2025
Survivors and families of anti-apartheid activists sue the government for constitutional damages
On 20 January 2025, twenty-five families and survivors of apartheid-era crimes brought an application in the Pretoria High Court against President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government, seeking constitutional damages for the government’s gross failure to adequately investigate and prosecute apartheid-era political crimes following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process.
They also seek an order compelling the President to establish an independent and public commission of inquiry into the political interference that resulted in the suppression of several hundred serious crimes arising from South Africa’s past.
The applicants are the survivors of the Highgate Hotel Massacre, Neville Beling and Karl Weber; as well as the family members of the Cradock Four, Richard and Irene Motasi, Caiphus Nyoka, the PEBCO 3, the COSAS 4, Nokuthula Simelane, Rick Turner, Musawakhe ‘Sbho’ Phewa, Hoosen Haffejee, Mxolisi ‘Dicky’ Jacobs, Imam Abdullah Haron, Deon Harris, Matthews ‘Mojo’ Mabelane, Ntombikayise Priscilla Kubheka, Ignatius ‘Iggy’ Mthebule and Nicholas Ramatua ‘Boiki’ Tlhapi.
“Our families were denied our constitutional right to justice when successive governments, starting with the one led by former President Thabo Mbeki, failed to implement the recommendations of the TRC’s Amnesty Committee. One recommendation was to prosecute unresolved apartheid-era cases of forced disappearances, deaths in detention and murders of anti-apartheid activists” says Lukhanyo Calata, the son of Fort Calata. Fort and his comrades Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, were murdered in 1985. They became known as the Cradock Four.
“Instead, in the more than 20 years following the handover of the TRC report to Mbeki, government ministers have intervened to prevent the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from carrying out its constitutional mandate to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. Justice delayed in this manner has ensured that justice is permanently denied to our families” he adds.
In the application the families seek constitutional damages against the State. “Constitutional damages are last resort legal remedies for addressing egregious violations of constitutional rights by the state. In this case, the suppression of post-TRC accountability efforts has led to the loss of witnesses, perpetrators and evidence, making prosecutions impossible in most cases and denying survivors and victims’ families rights to justice, truth, and closure” says Odette Geldenhuys, the Head of the Webber Wentzel Pro Bono Department, representing the applicants in the case.
Dr Zaid Kimmie from the Foundation for Human Rights emphasises that “The co-applicants are pursuing this case not only on behalf of their own rights but also in the public interest and for all survivors and families of victims who aim to address the systemic failure caused by political interference in the investigations and prosecutions of the TRC cases”.
/END
Media queries:
Lukhanyo Calata / 082 394 6481
Zaid Kimmie / 082 883 4934 or Mosa Leteane / 076 707 8600, Foundation for Human Rights
Odette Geldenhuys, Webber Wentzel / 083 776 6611
Relevant documents:
Media briefing notes can be downloaded on this link.
An overview of the court application can be downloaded on this link.
A full set of the court papers (signed and stamped) can be downloaded on this link.
A full set of unsigned court papers with links can be downloaded on this link.
The application has been brought by the following survivors and family representatives:[1]
1) Lukhanyo Bruce Matthews Calata (1st Applicant) – representing the family of the late Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four activists.
2) Alegria Kutsaka Nyoka (2nd Applicant) – representing the family of the late Caiphus Nyoka.
3) Bonakele Jacobs (3rd Applicant) – representing the family of the late Mxolisi ‘Dicky’ Jacobs.
4) Fatiema Haron-Masoet (4th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Imam Haron.
5) Tryphina Nomandlovu Mokgatle (5th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Zandisile Musi as well as other COSAS Four families, including the families of Eustice ‘Bimbo’ Madikela, Ntshingo Matabane and Fanyana Nhlapo.
6) Karl Andrew Weber (6th Applicant) – a survivor of the Highgate Hotel Massacre in East London on 1 May 1993.
7) Kim Turner (7th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Dr Rick Turner.
8) Lyndene Page (8th Applicant) – sister of the late Deon Harris, who died at the Highgate Hotel Massacre in East London on 1 May 1993.
9) Mbuso Khoza (9th Applicant) – representing the family of Musawakhe ‘Sbho’ Phewa, who was forcibly disappeared in 1987.
10) Neville Beling (10th Applicant) – a survivor of the Highgate Hotel Massacre in East London on 1 May 1993.
11) Nombuyiselo Mhlauli (11th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Sicelo Mhlauli, one of the Cradock Four activists.
12) Sarah Bibi Lall (12th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Dr Hoosen Haffejee.
13) Sizakele Ernestina Simelane (13th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Nokuthula Simelane, who was forcibly disappeared in 1983.
14) Sindiswa Elizabeth Mkonto (14th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Sparrow Mkonto, one of the Cradock Four activists.
15) Stephans Mbuti Mabelane (15th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Matthews ‘Mojo’ Mabelane.
16) Thuli Kubheka (16th Applicant) – representing the family of Ntombikayise Priscilla Kubheka, who was forcibly disappeared in 1987.
17) Hlekani Edith Rikhotso (17th Applicant) – representing the family of Ignatius ‘Iggy’ Mthebule, who was forcibly disappeared in 1987.
18) Tshidiso Motasi (18th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Richard and Busisiwe Irene Motasi.
19) Nomali Rita Galela (19th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Twasile Champion Galela, one of the PEBCO 3 activists.
20) Phumeza Mandisa Hashe (20th Applicant) – representing the family of the late Sipho Hashe, one of the PEBCO 3 activists.
21) Mkhontowesizwe Godolozi (21st Applicant) – representing the family of the late Qaqawuli Godolozi, one of the PEBCO 3 activists.
22) Mogapi Solomon Tlhapi (22nd Applicant) – representing the family of Nicholas Ramatua ‘Boiki’ Tlhapi, who was forcibly disappeared in 1986.
23) Foundation For Human Rights (23rd Applicant) – acting in public interest.
Editor’s Notes
Cradock Four
On 27 June 1985 Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli failed to return home to Cradock from a United Democratic Front (UDF) meeting in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha). Their mutilated bodies were found days later, and the murdered activists became known as the Cradock Four. Forty years later and their families are nowhere closer to justice even after the conclusion of two judicial inquests and testimony as well as failed applications for amnesty before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). A third inquest is scheduled to start in June 2025 after many key figures linked to the Cradock Four murders have died and thus escaped prosecution.
Caiphus Nyoka
Caiphus Nyoka, born on 9 February 1964, was a prominent leader of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) in Daveyton, Gauteng. Targeted by the Benoni security police, Nyoka faced harassment and multiple arrests under oppressive legislation. On 24 August 1987, at approximately 02h30 in the morning, Nyoka was fatally shot at his family home in Daveyton by a police unit that was established to ‘deal with terrorism’. After four former police officers, Johan Marais, Leon Louis Van Den Berg, Abram Hercules Engelbrecht and Pieter Egbert Stander were charged with murder, Marais pleaded guilty to murdering Nyoka and was convicted in December 2024. The sentencing proceedings will be on 27 January 2025, and the trial of the three other accused will run from 12-30 May 2025.
Mxolisi ‘Dicky’ Jacobs
Anti-apartheid youth activist Mxolisi ‘Dicky’ Jacobs was arrested by the Security Branch in Upington in June 1986 and spent 129 days in detention until he was found hanging in his cell on 22 October 1986. Fellow detainees of Jacobs stated that it was unlikely that he had hanged himself. Despite the TRC investigation and an inquest following his death, the circumstances of Dicky’s death in detention were never fully uncovered. The investigation by the DPCI is ongoing.
Imam Abdullah Haron
Imam Haron, a political activist and Imam at Cape Town’s Stegman Road Mosque, was arrested on 28 May 1969 under the Terrorism Act, held in solitary confinement for 123 days, subjected to near-daily interrogations, and died in police custody at Maitland Police Station on 27 September 1969. Imam Haron was critical of apartheid and had close ties with the then banned Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The initial 1969 inquest did not determine the cause of death and as a result no-one was held accountable for Haron’s death. This was despite the post-mortem report detailing evident trauma, including a broken rib and 27 visible bruises. After a protracted quest for justice which lasted over half a century, the Haron family was finally able to have the truth confirmed when Judge Thulare handed down his judgment in the re-opened inquest on 9 October 2023. Judge Thulare set aside the findings of the first inquest and found that Haron had been brutally tortured to death by members of the Security Branch of the South African Police.
COSAS 4
Eustice ‘Bimbo’ Madikela, Peter ‘Ntshingo’ Matabane, Fanyana Nhlapo, and Zandisile Musi were students from Kagiso, a township in Gauteng, and members of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), an organisation affiliated with the then banned African National Congress (ANC). Collectively known as the COSAS 4, their lives were forever altered on 15 February 1982, when they were lured to an explosive-rigged pump house by informers associated with the Security Branch.
Carel Coetzee, Willem Frederick Schoon, and Abraham Grobbelaar who masterminded the operation, have since passed away. Thlomedi Ephraim Mfalapitsa and Christiaan Siebert Rorich have been charged with kidnapping, murder, and additional charges under international criminal law. Delays in the trial initially ensued due to the refusal of SAPS to cover Rorich’s legal costs. Once the issue had been resolved, the defence for the accused have used Stalingrad tactics to delay the trial. The trial has been postponed to 14 April 2025.
1993 Highgate Massacre
In the Highgate Hotel Massacre, a group of balaclava-masked men shot dead five patrons at the hotel bar in East London and injured seven others on 1 May 1993. The families and survivors of the massacre have been seeking the truth for decades. Nobody applied for amnesty and no arrests were made. No inquest was ever held. Following years of uncertainty and struggle for justice, the inquest into the attack was eventually opened in 2023 and is scheduled to take place from 23 January to 7 February 2025 at the East London High Court.
Dr Rick Turner
Dr Rick Turner, an anti-apartheid activist and academic was a leading figure in the ‘Durban Moment’ in the 1970s. On 8 January 1978, and shortly before his banning order was about to expire, Turner was shot dead in his Durban home. He died in the arms of his daughters, 13-year-old Jann and 8-year-old Kim. Despite the TRC having conducted an investigation into Turner’s murder under Section 29 of the TRC Act and concluded that security forces were responsible, it could not identify the perpetrators. The TRC revealed that then National Police Commissioner G.L. Prinsloo had ordered that the investigation into Turner’s murder be shut down. On 1 March 2024, the NPA advised the lawyers for the Turner family that they had requested the Minister of Justice to reopen the inquest into the 1978 murder of Dr Turner in Durban. However, no inquest dates have been set for a hearing yet.
Musawakhe ‘Sbho’ Phewa
In May 1987, Musawakhe ‘Sbho’ Phewa an MK operative , was abducted by askaris and handed over to the Security Branch at Winkelspruit in KwaZulu Natal. He was never seen again, and his body has not been recovered. No-one applied for amnesty in the Phewa matter. An inquest was opened during 2022 but did not proceed. In November 2023 the DPP KwaZulu-Natal decided to pursue a prosecution of four persons: Hendrik Johannes Petrus Botha, Salmon Johannes Gerhardus Du Preez, Martinus Dawid Ras Jnr and Jakob Albert Coetzer. On 12 November 2024, Lawrence Gerald Wasserman was also charged with murder and all five accused appeared before the Umlazi Magistrates’ Court, when the matter was postponed to 28 January 2025. Wasserman died on 16 November 2024. At least three other alleged perpetrators, including the notorious Andy Taylor, died before they could face justice.
Dr Hoosen Haffejee
Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee was a dentist who died in police custody on 3 August 1977, aged 26. The police alleged that he had hung himself with his trousers from a grille door at Durban’s Brighton Beach Police station. In October 2017, a team from the Priority Crimes Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), led by Advocate Shubnum Singh, began an investigation into Haffejee’s death. In August 2019, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services formally requested the Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court to designate a judge to re-open Haffejee’s inquest. The reopened inquest ran in 2021 and the judgment was delivered in 2022. Judge Zaba Nkosi found that Haffejee had been brutally tortured and murdered by the Security Branch and called for a murder investigation against one surviving Security Branch officer.
Nokuthula Simelane
Nokuthula Aurelia Simelane was abducted, tortured, and forcibly disappeared by members of the Security Branch of the South African Police (SAP) in 1983. In 2001 the TRC’s Amnesty Committee granted some of the perpetrators amnesty for Nokuthula’s abduction, but none of the perpetrators applied for amnesty for her murder. In 2016‚ Willem Coetzee‚ Anton Pretorius‚ Frederick Mong, and Msebenzi Radebe‚ formerly of the Soweto Special Branch police‚ were indicted for Nokuthula’s murder. Two of the accused have died since then. The case has faced several delays since 2016. The trial is yet to commence more than eight years after the accused were indicted.
Matthews ‘Mojo’ Mabelane
According to the police version, Soweto Students Representative Council member, Matthews Mabelane, who was detained at John Vorster Square Police Station, fell to his death while attempting to escape out of the window from a 10th floor interrogation room on 15 February 1977. The Mabelane family has never believed the official version that nobody was to blame for his death and has continued to seek justice for his death. The family appeared before the TRC’s Human Rights Violations Committee. No-one applied for amnesty in the matter. The informal inquest found that Mabelane had accidentally fallen to his death and that there was no foul play involved. Since Matthews Mabelane died in detention on 15 February 1977, the Mabelane family has been seeking answers, closure and justice. In August 2024, they made representations to the NDPP requesting the reopening of an inquest.
Ntombikayise Priscilla Kubheka
Ntombikayise Priscilla Kubheka was an MK operative in Kwa-Zulu Natal who was abducted, tortured and murdered near Winkelspruit by the Security Branch in May 1987. Several perpetrators applied for amnesty for her murder and abduction. Some were granted amnesty for her kidnapping, but none for her murder. Ntombi’s daughter, Thuli, has been tireless in seeking justice for her mother’s death.
Following the initial opening of the inquest in October 2023, the NPA subsequently charged five former police officers including Hendrik Johannes Petrus Botha, Salmon Johannes Gerhardus Du Preez, Martinus Dawid Ras Jnr, Jakob Albert Coetzer and Lawrence Wasserman with murder and kidnapping. The first two appearances of four suspects (with one being out of the country) took place at the Umlazi Magistrates’ Court in May and August 2024. The matter was further postponed to 12 November 2024 to allow the accused to finalise their legal representation. The fifth accused, Lawrence Wasserman, was charged and added to the proceedings in November 2024. The matter was subsequently postponed to 28 January 2025, to allow Wasserman to make arrangements for his legal representation, but Wasserman died soon after he was indicted.
Ignatius ‘Iggy’ Mthebule
Ignatius ‘Iggy’ or ‘Gab’ Mthebule was a student activist with the banned Azanian Students Organisation (AZASO) in 1975 and a commander of an underground ANC unit in the then Transvaal. His brother, Samuel Mthebule, told the TRC that Iggy was expelled from the University of the North in 1976 due to his activism, went into exile around 1981, and later returned to South Africa as an underground ANC operative in Johannesburg. In February 1987, apartheid agent Joy Harnden allegedly infiltrated Mthebule’s unit, luring him to a Hillbrow restaurant where he was identified to Alfred Oosthuizen of the South African Police (SAP) Security Branch. That was the last time Mthebule was seen alive, and his whereabouts remain unknown. The TRC could not determine what happened to him. The Mthebule family has sought tirelessly for answers and justice to ensure his burial in accordance with their customs.
Richard and Busisiwe Irene Motasi
Richard Motasi was a policeman based at the Hammanskraal Police College. The then Northern Transvaal Security Police compiled a file on him which suggested that he was an ANC agent giving sensitive information over to the ANC in Zimbabwe and Johannesburg. Richard and Busisiwe were shot dead by the Security Branch on 1 December 1987 at the family’s Hammanskraal home. Their son, Tshidiso, was present in the family home and survived the attack on his parents. Mrs Motasi’s mother, Mrs Gloria Hlanangane, testified before the TRC Amnesty Committee of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of her daughter and son in-law, in particular, trauma and pain that she had endured when discovering the bodies and when searching for her grandson, who was callously left unattended throughout the night, with the bodies of his parents. Nobody has ever been prosecuted for these horrendous crimes even though several of the killers did not apply for amnesty. At least three of the killers have died, including the notorious Jaques Hechter who died on 20 July 2023.
PEBCO 3
Three leading civic activists from the Eastern Cape, Sipho Samuel Charles Hashe, Twasile Champion Galela and Qaqawuli Godolozi, were abducted in May 1985 from the Port Elizabeth airport in a joint Vlakplaas and Security Branch operation. The activists were taken several hundred kilometres away to the remote Post Chalmers farm where they were viciously tortured and murdered.
In 2004, Gideon Nieuwoudt (died 2005), Johannes Martin van Zyl, and Johannes Koole were charged with the abduction, assault, and murder of the PEBCO 3. Shortly after their bail hearings, however, Nieuwoudt and van Zyl applied for the review of the TRC Amnesty Committee’s refusal to grant them amnesty.
In 2009 the High Court ruled that an Amnesty Committee be convened to rehear the application of Van Zyl. Charges were then provisionally withdrawn against Van Zyl and Koole. Inexplicably, the DOJ never convened an Amnesty Committee and the NPA never reinstated the cases against Van Zyl and Koole, who have both since died.
Nicholas Ramatua ‘Boiki’ Tlhapi
On 20 March 1986, Nicholas Ramatua ‘Boiki’ Tlhapi, an activist from Ikageng, Potchefstroom, was arrested near Stilfontein along with others. Detained under Section 29 of the Internal Security Act, he was held at Jouberton Police Station, where he was allegedly tortured and assaulted. His friend, George Mangwetjane, informed the family that he last saw Boiki bleeding from his nose and mouth, lying on the cell floor. Boiki disappeared after his arrest, and despite the family’s efforts, neither he nor his remains have been found.
In 1994, an inquest court returned a finding that it could not conclude that Boiki was deceased.
On 29 September 1996, Boiki’s father, Barileng James Tlhapi, testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC found that Tlhapi was assaulted and tortured by Warrant Officer Viljoen, Sergeant Makiti, and Constables Tseladimitlwa, Tshwaedi, Majaja, and Mano of the Jouberton Security Branch, holding them and senior police officials responsible for his disappearance.
In November 2024 the Minister of Justice formally reopened an inquest into Tlhapi’s death.
[1] Tryphina Nomandlovu Mokgatle (5th Applicant) represents the family of the late Zandisile Musi as well as other COSAS Four families, including the families of Eustice ‘Bimbo’ Madikela, Ntshingo Matabane and Fanyana Nhlapo, hence the number of applicants is 22 plus FHR. However, the case is brought, in total, by 25 survivors and families of victims.
