Families of the Cradock Four left dismayed by the tardiness of the State in bringing justice to the martyrs, have now turned to the courts to take action.
Commemorating the 38th anniversary of the killing of Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli – the Fort Calata Foundation said it was taking class action against the State after the last surviving suspect, Hermanus Barend du Plessis, died.
Son of Calata, Lukhanyo Calata, said they would forge ahead with seeking constitutional damages.
“We have instructed our lawyers to begin to draw up papers for a class action lawsuit against the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the government as led by the ANC.
“We are of the opinion that both the government and the NPA had at least 20 years in which they could’ve acted and prosecuted the likes of Harold Snyman, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Gerhardus Johannes Lotz, Johan Martin ‘Sakkie’ van Zyl, Eric Alexander Taylor, Hermanus Barend du Plessis, Eric Winter, Adriaan Johannes Vlok and of course Frederik Willem de Klerk for their roles in the murders of the Cradock Four.
“Of course a class action suit such as the one we are bringing is not an easy thing but the lawyers have been briefed, they have sought and obtained legal opinions and will soon if not already be drawing up the necessary papers to begin the process of seeking constitutional damages against the State,” said Calata.
He said a long-standing meeting with the director of public prosecutions (DPP) was cancelled at the last minute on June 22, “because they did not agree with the agenda our lawyers had sent them”.
Apartheid-era Victim’s Family Group (AVFG) spokesperson, Kone Gugushe, said: “We as the AVFG share the pain of the Cradock Four families and every family affected by the atrocities pre-1994. We hold the State accountable for not addressing post Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) prosecutions since 2003 when the final TRC reports were handed over.
“In fact, these matters should have been properly dealt with by all stakeholders at the TRC hearings in 1996.”
NPA spokesperson in the Eastern Cape, Luxolo Tyali, said the death of Du Plessis had set back their inquest investigations.
“The death of Du Plessis, is a setback in our collective quest to ensure justice for apartheid-era crimes.
“The matter was revived by the NPA in 2021 after the original case docket was lost and a new one reconstructed.
“It was allocated to a dedicated team of Eastern Cape Division advocates, who guide the investigation.
“The team works with the dedicated members of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigations.”
Tyali said the DPP made a decision on the matter, but this was yet to be communicated with the families.
“The frustration from the families of the deceased, and the nation at large is understandable.
“Unfortunately, the lack of admissible evidence to date has prevented the NPA from reaching a speedier resolution to this priority matter.
“We are disappointed at the lack of accountability for TRC crimes.
“We are also frustrated by our inability to proceed due to lack of evidence.
“This is largely due to the time lapse.
“In this case the death of the last suspect robbed the families of an opportunity to get justice,” said Tyali.
Cape Times