Unsolved apartheid-era crimes continue to haunt South Africa
Sandile Mdadane is the Editor of the Sunday Tribune
Image: File
ABOUT 400 cases of apartheid-era crimes remain unsolved, leaving countless families grappling with grief and a yearning for closure and justice.
Prominent investigations are certainly underway, yet the slow pace of uncovering truths has left many questioning the commitment of political leadership to rectify historic wrongs.
The Luthuli family, who lost the revered ANC president Inkosi Albert Luthuli, the Mxenge family, mourning the death of lawyer couple Victoria and Griffiths Mxenge, and the families of the Cradock Four anti-apartheid activists are among those who have yet to find closure regarding their loved ones' tragic fates.
In the high court in Gqeberha this week, a tearful Lukhanyo Calata shared the immense burden his family carries. As the son of Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four murdered in 1985, he expressed feelings of betrayal by successive leaders, many of whom paid their respects at his father's funeral but have since failed to deliver justice. “It has been far too long,” he lamented, calling into question the political will to hold the killers accountable for their crimes.
The Cradock Four, captured after a roadblock were subjected to brutal treatment that culminated in their murder, where their bodies were subsequently set ablaze. Despite two inquests and rejected applications for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by six former police officers linked to the case, no arrests have been made.
Meanwhile, the shadows of the past loom in the story of Joao Rodrigues, a former member of the apartheid's security branch who died in 2021. Rodrigues was facing murder charges for the death of anti-apartheid activist and teacher Ahmed Timol in 1971, initially ruled a suicide by the police, but later investigations revealed a more sinister truth—Timol was pushed from the tenth floor of the notorious John Vorster Square, now the Joburg Central police station.
It is heartless to expect the victims to move on or pretend that the horrific legacy of apartheid no longer exists. As the dark record of apartheid crimes continues to haunt South Africa, the cry for justice grows louder, echoing through generations.
Sandile Mdadane is the Editor of the Sunday Tribune. The views expressed are his own.