Lukhanyo Calata tells TRC Inquiry: 'My father's killers should have been sentenced in 2004'
Lukhanyo Calata, the son of Fort Calata, has accused government of failing the victims of the Cradock Four massacre.
Image: File Picture: David Ritchie
Lukhanyo Calata, the son of anti-apartheid activist Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four victims, has accused both the apartheid regime and post-apartheid governments of betrayal.
During his testimony on Monday, Calata claimed that the NPA and President Cyril Ramaphosa have failed the families of the Cradock Four, who were murdered in 1985.
This comes as the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into alleged political interference in Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Cases, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe, continued to hear testimony from Calata.
The commission, established by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2025, is chaired by Khampepe and aims to investigate potential misconduct by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) concerning TRC referrals. The inquiry revisits the tragedy that unfolded in 1985 when Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, and Sicelo Mhauli were brutally murdered by the apartheid-era Security Branch.
As he testified, Calata stated his discontent with the lack of accountability for his father's killers. “My father's killers should've been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004. By now, we should be discussing their parole, but here we are sitting in the Commission of Inquiry,” he remarked, highlighting the prolonged anguish experienced by the families of the victims.
The grave site of Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkonto, Fort Calata and Sicelo Mhlauli, who were known as the ’Cradock Four’. The four men were killed by Apartheid state security forces in 1985.
Image: Benny Gool / Independent Media
On Friday, the commission heard how the apartheid regime, the ANC, and the administrations of two former presidents “betrayed” the father of one witness.
On Monday, Calata continued with his testimony, casting the spotlight on the role played by the NPA, as well as the Government Directors-General Forum, which decided how the TRC recommendations needed to be handled in the national interest.
Calata, accused the NPA and Ramaphosa of failing to meet with the family of the Cradock Four.
"President Ramaphosa didn't want to meet us as the families of the victims. Only when we went to court did he try to save face and establish this Commission of Inquiry, which we've asked him to establish since 2019....Parliament ought to have investigated the claims by Advocate Vusi Pikoli that the NPA was being held to ransom by the former generals of the apartheid regime," he stated.
Justice Sisi Khampepe leads the Judicial Commission of Inquiry which is probing interference in TRC cases.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
Calata, testifying more than 40 years after the tragedy, placed the blame on the government and emphasised the impact and the pain the delays have had on the families of the victims.
"As families, we understood this to mean we don't matter. That is the level of disrespect we've experienced at the hands of the NPA."
Last week, Calata, a prominent journalist, urged the commission to issue subpoenas for former Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, for their alleged failure in investigating and prosecuting cases arising from the TRC's recommendations.
IOL has reported that the two former heads of state, acting separately, have launched another legal challenge to force retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe to recuse herself from chairing the commission.
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za