The applicants have applied for amnesty in terms of Section 18 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act No.34 of 1995, as amended, in respect of the raid at Bhongolethu Police Station near Kokstad in October 1993, and the subsequent death of two policeman who were kidnapped from this police station during the raid, the kidnapping of the two deceased, the theft of firearms and ammunition and the unlawful possession thereof.
Evidence of the training of the applicants by members of the Military Wing of the African National congress, and their subsequent membership of the Self Defence units by this organization was admitted as was the attack at Northcrest, Umtata, by the South African Defence Force, in September 1993.
It was this raid and the attendant killing of school-children, and its subsequent justification by the then South African Government that led applicants to decide to retaliate against the government.
Evidence was led that the applicants had always considered police stations and their personnel to be soft targets. The fact that the applicants knew the Kokstad area very well (Mlungisi Nyembezi lived in the area) led to the applicants deciding to attack this particular police station in retaliation for the Northcrest killings. The applicants attended the funeral of the youths who had been killed in the Northcrest raid, then drove to Kokstad to carry out their mission to humiliate and undermine the South African Government, and to show the government that its security system was weak and could be penetrated at any time. In so doing, the applicants wanted to make the point that the government could not simply act against the African people at anytime without expecting some sort of retaliation. The applicants felt that what the government had done was shameful, particularly as negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the country's political problems was in progress at the time.
The applicants had surveilled that particular police station previously and again on the day of the attack. As expected, two policemen wee on duty at the police station. Upon being captured, they were told that if they co-operate with the applicants, no harm would come to them. They would simply be left as far away from the police station as possible. This was in accordance with the plan. The policemen were kidnapped, and a number of firearms were taken during the raid. The telephone lines were cut, and the applicants wrote the words APLA on the wall and in the charge office so as to confuse the police who would later investigate that matter.
The group then drove towards Umtata in their pane van, then turned left on the road leading to Bizana. The police, firearms, and two of the applicants were in the rear of the van. On the way, the van began to stall. As the applicants in the front cabin tried to check on what the problem might be, one of the policeman grabbed the second applicant, Luzuko Mpiyakhe, who was seated in the rear of the van with the policemen, and a shot rang out. A shoot-out ensued between the applicants and the police, who had managed to overpower the second applicant in the rear of the van and arm themselves with the firearms taken at the police station and which were at the back of the motor vehicle. This culminated in three of the applicants giving chase as the policemen ran off, with the firing between the parties continuing.
Evidence was that the second applicant was injured and had to be taken to hospital. With the exception of a rifle and a shotgun which were left with the fourth applicant the remaining firearms were delivered to an ANC member in Umtata. The applicants all submitted that their actions were committed with a political objective, and that they had made full disclosure of the relevant material facts surrounding this raid and the consequent deaths of the two policemen.
The deceased's two widows did not dispute the political objective the applicants sought to achieve. Their objections related to the matter of full disclosure. They submitted that contrary to the evidence of Nyembezi, one of the victims, Sergeant Ngubo was known to Nyembezi, and that the applicants had all along attended to attack the police station. The reason the police were killed, they submitted, was because Ngubo would have been able to identify Nyembezi. They contended that it was improbable that no violence was used against these policemen at the police station, particularly as some buttons and a spent 9mm cartridge were found on the ground outside the police station. They further submitted that given the number of bullet wounds found on the bodies, this was suggestive of a shooting at close range, contrary to what the applicants stated.
This committee is satisfied that the applicants were members of the Self Defence Units, established by the African National Congress and its allies, and that the applicants were thus pursuing their political parties objectives in targeting and attacking the Bhongweni police station.
This particular raid was in retaliation for the Northcrest killing, and was aimed at undermining and humiliating a government that sought to humiliate and undermine its opponents at a critical time in the country's history. This act is therefore one that is envisaged by section 20(1) of the Act.
The Committee accepts the evidence of the Applicants that they were the direct cause of the deaths of the victims. The initial objective had not been to kill these particular policemen, but that under the circumstances of the attempted escape and the ensuing shoot-out, they had been killed. Overall there does not seem to be any basis for suggesting that the versions of the applicants are not correct. In the circumstances, it is found that the applicants have indeed made full disclosure.
There was no evidence that the applicants committed these acts pursuance of a personal agenda, or for personal gain or out of personal malice, ill-will or spite against the victims.
We are satisfied that the applicants have complied with the requirements of the Act and consequently it is ordered that the applicants are GRANTED amnesty in respect of the offenses for which they so apply.
We are of the opinion that the widows of the two deceased policemen, viz. Mrs b Mbele of Carisbrooke Farm, P.O.Box 279, Ixopo and Mrs Ngubu, c/o Adv A.R. Brink, 145 Commercial Road, Pietermaritburg, are victims in relation to the acts forming the basis of the amnesty GRANTED to the applicants. The matter is accordingly referred to the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee for its consideration in terms of Section 26 of Act 34 of 1995.