TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 3

Chapter 2

Subsection 13

Group attacks

113. Many of these attacks were spontaneous and unplanned, but several had some organisational links. The application by Mr Mziwoxolo Stokwe [AM6538/96] offers a compelling example of the latter. At his amnesty hearing, Stokwe explained that a certain Mr Skune Tembisile Maarman, aged nineteen, was identified as an informer used by the police to identify ‘comrades’. At the Port Elizabeth hearing on 17 July 1999, he described how Maarman was killed on 6 April 1985:

One night we had a COSAS¹⁴⁶ meeting, when I was chairing, and in that meeting we took a decision to kill Maarman because he was dangerous to us. … And we sent a few ‘comrades’ to go and kidnap [him] from the disco. We were about 200, ± 200 people at that night. Mr Maarman was brought to us by the delegation and we stoned him into death. Thereafter we burnt him with a tyre on his neck. But only eight people were charged for the killing and I was accused number one.

114. After the arrests, information emerged that a woman who had also participated in the killing, Ms Cikizwa Ntiki Febana, was going to be a state witness at the trial. On 14 December 1985, she too was killed.

115. Stokwe expressed a wish to contribute to reconciliation and building a united community that knew the truth about the events of the past. The families of the victims supported his application, which was granted [AC/1999/240].¹⁴⁷

116. In many instances, applicants explained that their actions were spontaneous and often came about in direct response to clashes with police. UDF supporter, Justice Bekebeke [AM6370/97; AC/1999/203], applied for and was granted amnesty for the killing of Municipal Police officer Lucas Tsenolo ‘Jetta’ Sethwale in Paballelo township in Upington in the Northern Cape on 13 November 1985. The turbulent events of the previous three days had enraged residents, and Mr Bekebeke described this as a ‘crowd attack’ during a period of conflict.

117. Mr Bekebeke was part of the well-known trial of the ‘Upington 26’ in which twenty-five residents were convicted of the killing in terms of the ‘common purpose’ doctrine. The twenty-sixth person was convicted of attempted murder. Fourteen of the accused were sentenced to death, including Mr Bekebeke. Many of the convictions and all of the death sentences were overturned on appeal. Mr Bekebeke was given a ten-year prison sentence but was released as a political prisoner in January 1992.

Robberies on farms

118. The Amnesty Committee also heard applications from UDF supporters who planned and participated in robberies, often on farms, largely for the purpose of acquiring arms.

119. Five UDF supporters from Kubusi township, Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape, applied for and were partially granted amnesty for five attacks on white civilians, mainly living on farms, during the period January to March 1990 [AC/1999/0277]. The applicants were Messrs Randile Bhayi [AM0122/96], Jimmy Nokawusana [AM1977/96], Mziyanda Ntonga [AM2018/96], Melumuzi Nokawusana [AM2009/96] and Bonakele Bhayi [AM2770/96].

120. In their applications, they sketched the turbulent political history of the township since 1985, including serious clashes with security forces. They testified that local farmers served as police reservists and had played a role in other forms of political repression. As a consequence, groups of up to forty youths, including the applicants, had embarked on raids and robberies on white farmers. In most instances, the motive was to acquire weapons and ammunition. In some of the attacks, farmers or farm workers were shot and injured. Amnesty was granted for four of the attacks and refused for one.

121. In a similar case, three UDF supporters applied for amnesty for an attack on a farm in Paarl outside Cape Town on 15 April 1986. The three applicants, Mr P Maxam [AM1283], Mr T Madoda [AM0865/96] and Mr CS Ndinisa [AM3802/96], w e re members of the UDF-affiliated Paarl Youth Congress in Mbekweni township outside Paarl. The three applicants testified that the purpose of the robbery had been to obtain weapons to defend themselves against the police and the Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO), which they believed was being supported by the police.

122. The three applicants, together with four or five other ‘comrades’, set out to rob the farm where they had been told weapons were available. During the robbery, Maxam shot and killed the domestic worker, Ms Anne Foster, and the gardener, Mr John Geyser. Madoda and Ndinisa expressed their shock at the killings, which had not been part of the plan. The group fled and several were later arrested, convicted and sentenced for the robbery and the killings. All three were granted amnesty for the robbery, but only Ndinisa and Madoda were granted amnesty for their role in the killings.