DURBAN - THE families of apartheid activists who died under mysterious circumstances have said that they suffered the ultimate betrayal from the State and had never been able to move on.
Mandla Mlangeni, son of assassinated political activist Bheki Mlangeni, said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which marked its 25th commemoration at the weekend, was not helpful to them as a family.
Mandla, who was 4-years-old when his father died, said: “It was my mother who testified at the commission towards the end of 1996, but even then we felt re-traumatised because we had to relive the whole thing because we knew that the government of national unity was complicit.”
Mandla, a Johannesburg-based jazz maestro, said he held a different view regarding the amnesty of Eugene de Kock, who had confessed to the TRC about the murder.
“De Kock was South Africa’s sacrificial lamb because he took the fall for everybody. Are we just going to be angry with De Kock when we do not know who else was working with him till this day? He at least came clean with his side and a lot of families, including us, got closure from that and it helped our recovery process, but we still maintain that there has been no real justice,” said Mandla.
Imtiaz Cajee, Ahmed Timol’s nephew, said he had been on the quest for justice for his uncle since 2003. In 1972, the magistrate on the Timol Inquest had ruled that Timol committed suicide at John Vorster Square (now Johannesburg Central police station) and details of his torture were excluded.
Joao Rodrigues, 81, was charged with Timol’s murder in 2018 after a second inquest ruled that Timol’s death was not a suicide. Cajee said the case had still not begun. Rodrigues last appeared in November at the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
“It is totally unacceptable that we endure such a long period for this trial to commence and for truth to be heard regarding what happened to my uncle.
“You kind of get the sense that they are waiting for all these former state security personnel to die so their cases can get thrown out,” Cajee said.
“They do not want the former state police to testify.”
silindile.nyathikazi@inl.co.za
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