Cradock Four inquest postponed over legal fees delays, families fear truth will die with witnesses

The widow of Sicelo Mhlauli, Nombuyiselo, at the Gqeberha High Court on Monday. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

By Estelle Ellis

2 Sep 2024

The long-awaited reopening of the inquest into the killing of the Cradock Four was postponed on Monday in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha over delays in legal funding for former police and defence force members, and a family member of one of the four.

In June 2025, when an inquest into the murders of the Cradock Four finally starts, it will be 40 years since the men died.

“Justice for me would be that people will come to tell the whole story,” Nomonde Calata, the widow of Fort Calata, said on Monday. “I want to know why they did that to him.”

The Cradock Four is the collective name given to the anti-apartheid activists Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli, Sparrow Mkonto and Matthew Goniwe, who were murdered on 27 June 1985.

They were returning to Cradock from Gqeberha (then known as Port Elizabeth) when they were arrested at a roadblock manned by the Security Branch, assaulted and murdered.

Read more: Thirty-three years after Fort Calata’s assassination, his widow finally allows herself to mourn her ‘best friend’

There have been two inquests into their deaths. The first, held in 1987, concluded that the Cradock Four had been killed by “unknown persons”. No one was prosecuted.

A second inquest in 1993, presided over by the former Judge President of the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, Judge Neville Zietsman, found that the police had caused the Cradock Four’s deaths. However, no individuals were named as being responsible. Again, no one was prosecuted.

In 1999, six former police officers involved in the Cradock Four’s arrest and murder appeared before the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), but none of them was granted amnesty.

On Tuesday, the third inquest, and one that the families had pinned their hopes on to hear the truth of what had happened to their husbands and fathers, was again postponed because of a delay in fees paid to counsel representing former state security officials and police officers.

Mbulelo Goniwe, a nephew of Matthew Goniwe, also wants his legal representation paid for by the State. Goniwe’s wife, Nyameka, and his daughter, Nobuzwe, have both died.

James Calata's widow, Nomonde Calata, in court on Monday. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

‘Monumental failure of justice’

Advocate Howard Varney, appearing for the Calata, Mhlauli and Mkonto families, said it was agreed in August 2023 that the inquest would be reopened. The then minister of justice, Ronald Lamola, confirmed this on 4 January 2024.

On Monday, when the inquest was meant to start and continue until 20 September, the hearing was postponed.

“A toxic mix of political interference, incompetence and indifference has shut down virtually all the TRC cases over the last two decades,” said Varney.

“There are only a handful of cases that can be taken forward, and the clock is ticking on all of them. Yet we see little sense of urgency on the part of the authorities.

“It is high time that the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority], State Attorney and the relevant departments, namely the SAPS and the SANDF, came together to work out a seamless approach to the question of legal costs to avoid this wholly unnecessary fiasco from happening again.”

Read more: My Father Died for This: A history of the Calata family

Varney said the postponement was “yet another bitter blow” for the families and had serious consequences for them and the wider Cradock community.

“The hopes of the families for some closure after more than 39 years of waiting have been dashed again,” he said.

“They have endured decades of cover-ups, obfuscation and idleness on the part of the authorities. All their efforts to see justice done in a criminal court have come to nought. Now, when a reopened inquest is finally going to happen, they have been let down again, and needlessly so.”

He said the postponement might result in a grave miscarriage of justice.

“We have identified 49 persons who were associated in one form or another with the Cradock Four case. Virtually all of them have died,” said Varney.

“All six members of the police hit squad who murdered the Cradock Four have died,” Varney continued, naming them as Major Sakkie van Zyl, Lieutenant Eric Taylor, Sergeant Gerhardus Lotz, Warrant Officer Mbalala Glen Mgoduka, Sergeant Amos Themba Faku and Xolile Shepard Sakati, who has been described as an askari.

“Most of the masterminds who planned or facilitated the operation against the Cradock Four have died, including Colonel Harold Snyman, Colonel Lourens du Plessis, Major General Nicolaas Jacobus Janse van Rensburg, General Jannie Geldenhuys, Major General Frederick Johannes van Rensburg and Lieutenant Jaap van Jaarsveld.

“Most members of the State Security Council (SSC) between 1984 and 1985 have died. Of the 27 persons who attended one or both SSC meetings on 19 March 1984 and 10 June 1985, at least 14 have died,” said Varney.

He said that since the families brought a high court application in July 2021 to compel the NPA and the SAPS to finalise investigations, six people of interest to the inquest had died, including former president FW de Klerk, Eric Winter (Cradock Security Branch commander), Johannes van der Merwe (former SAP commissioner), Adriaan Vlok (former police minister), Barend du Plessis (former minister of education and training) and Hermanus Barend du Plessis, the former head of the Security Branch’s Black Affairs Unit in Port Elizabeth.

“The primary reason behind this monumental failure of justice has been political interference, which effectively killed off the bulk of cases referred by the TRC to the NPA,” said Varney.

Read more: Thabo Mbeki’s claim that ‘we never interfered’ in prosecuting TRC cases ignores the facts

“Those behind these machinations knew that this would be the outcome. They must be held to account.”

He said the “persons of interest” who were still alive were “in the twilight of their lives”.

They are Gerrit Nicholas Erasmus (88), a former lieutenant general and head of the Port Elizabeth Security Branch; Major General Krappies Engelbrecht, who was head of the police’s Counterintelligence Department; Joffel van der Westhuizen (82), a former lieutenant general in the SADF; Craig Williamson (75), former head of Security Branch Intelligence; and Neil Barnard (75), former director of the National Intelligence Service.

“Given the advanced ages of these individuals, it is highly likely that some will not be available to testify by the time this inquest is eventually held. This will be devastating for the families,” said Varney.

“They will yet again be denied the opportunity to hear from those associated with the Cradock Four case. This would amount to another unforgivable miscarriage of justice.”

Undue delays

He said that in February, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, representing the families pro bono, sent a schedule for the hearing setting out the witnesses needed and their time estimates.

“The schedule was agreed to at a meeting between the families and the NPA on 22 February 2024,” said Varney.

On 9 July, after they heard nothing from the NPA about the inquest, the families’ attorneys sent urgent letters to the NPA and the presiding judge, Nomathamsanqa Beshe, expressing their alarm that the inquest was in danger of collapsing.

“This concern,” Varney said, “proved to be prescient since all efforts thereafter to salvage the inquest came to nought.

“The NPA claims that their hands were tied as they had not received final confirmation of the inquest dates from the presiding judge. Accordingly, they could not take preparatory steps, such as issuing subpoenas. This, with respect, is not an acceptable excuse.

“There is no reason why the NPA could not have extracted the confirmation of dates, even if it meant knocking on doors or camping in the registrar’s office.

“According to the legal representatives of the former SAPS and the SANDF witnesses, they were only advised of the reopened inquest and the hearing dates during June 2024. They complained that it was too late for them to organise funding for their legal costs through the State Attorney, as a complicated paper trail is required, which includes seeking the approval of the SAPS and the SANDF. This was the primary reason for the collapse of the inquest.”

Read more: The Cradock Four: A son’s quest for justice for Fort Calata and fellow activists

Advocate Jannie Coltman, acting for the NPA, said he wanted to make it clear that the State was ready to proceed, but they had accepted that all parties must have the opportunity to obtain legal representation.

Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC, appearing on behalf of Goniwe and the greater Cradock community, said previous inquests had failed to find the truth.

“The evidence will reveal a planned assassination,” he said. “Mbulelo Goniwe was also targeted, and his case is that he was also a victim.”

He said they had approached Legal Aid South Africa for funding but were turned down for “reasons incompatible with the Constitution. Government cannot play dead and silent.”

Advocate Fiona Bosman for the NPA said they had done all they could to get the inquest to court. She added the court file went missing and had to be reconstituted.

Files from the previous inquests also went missing. The Cory Library for Historical Research in Makhanda came to their rescue and delivered a digital copy of the inquests.

Advocate Barry Madolo, the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Eastern Cape, said the ideal situation would be to run with the inquest.

“We feel bad,” he said, “but there is nothing much that we can do.”

The inquest was postponed to 2 June 2025.

The widow of Sicelo Mhlauli, Nombuyiselo, in court on Monday. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)

‘Forty years is too long’

Calata’s son, Lukhanyo, said, “We thought today was the day that we would start to hear the truth.”

He said it would be 40 years next year in June since his dad was murdered, and he was hoping to go to his father’s grave to tell him that the truth was out, that, “You can rest in peace now.”

Read more: Lukhanyo Calata called for justice and the NPA answered

Calata’s widow, Nomonde, said June was a difficult month for her.

“It is the month when my husband was killed,” she said. “I am so disappointed.”

She said if there were a political deal regarding the Cradock Four’s murder, the families would like to be told.

Mhlauli’s widow, Nombuyiselo, said she, too, was disappointed, sad, frustrated and traumatised.

“We never had time to mourn for our husbands,” she said.

She said her husband was supposed to come to fetch her in Port Elizabeth when he was killed.

“In my heart, I am still waiting for him. Forty years is too long.”

She said her husband’s killers had cut off one of his hands, and it bothered her to this day that they had to bury him without the hand.

Read more: NPA’s apartheid case shame: State prosecutors have ‘failed’ to investigate crimes exposed by the TRC

Mkonto’s son, Lonwabo, said he was disappointed in the outcome of the court proceedings. His mother, Sindiswa, is no longer able to travel.

Yasmin Sooka, a former TRC commissioner from the Foundation for Human Rights, said the inquest was supposed to be a watershed moment. She said there was political interference and the NPA had been told not to take up these cases.

“It is shocking that the democratic state is suppressing these cases,” she said. “Their excuses are unacceptable.” DM

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