The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has rejected the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling that dismissed further investigation into the 1981 murder of human rights activist lawyer Griffiths Mxenge.
The inquest was reopened in 2023 by then Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Ronald Lamola, following a prosecution-guided investigation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI).
The inquest was expected to shed light on the circumstances of Mxenge’s death and whether a murder case should be reopened. However, the court ruled there was no reasonable legal grounds for further investigation, arguing that the perpetrators had already been convicted of Mxenge’s death, but later granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which had applied for the inquest, said the court found the matter had already been subjected to a formal inquest.
The court further noted that while some perpetrators were convicted and others acquitted, those convicted were later granted amnesty.
The court also concluded that no further evidence was required and that it would not be in the interests of justice for the inquest to proceed any further.
The NPA said it will consider the merits of the judgment once received to determine the way forward.
Reacting to the decision on Friday, ANC provincial spokesperson Sifiso Sonjica said the ANC was shocked and disappointed by the court’s decision. He said families of the apartheid crime victims have been yearning for closure for many years and for the Mxenge family the inquest was their last hope.
“This is disturbing for the families of the apartheid crime victims, particularly for the Mxenge family. Our view as the ANC is that those that were given amnesty did not make disclosures. Everybody knows that these hit squads were operating under the instructions of the National Party government so the families wanted to know who ordered the murder of Mxenge and many other victims,” said Sonjica.
He stated that the matter must be treated with urgency because many family members of victims and perpetrators are aging and dying, adding that families risked dying without ever getting closure.
“The ANC will meet with the family to seek legal advice as to what the next course will be,” concludes Sonjica.
Mxenge was killed by members of the Security Branch in 1981. A formal inquest conducted in 1982 concluded that he had been killed by unknown persons, however, the identities of some of the individuals involved, as well as their respective roles, only emerged during proceedings of the TRC.
Although some former apartheid officials confessed to murdering freedom political activists, families of the victims were not satisfied and believed that there was a lot of information that they withheld. Under pressure from the families, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a commission chaired by the retired Judge Sisi Khampepe which is currently probing whether there was political interference in the delay of prosecution of the accused after the recommendations of the TRC.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za
