Advocate Menzi Simelane has reflected on the emotional trauma suffered by families of apartheid-era-crimes during his cross-examination before the TRC Cases Inquiry on Tuesday.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
Former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Menzi Simelane, has reflected on the alleged interference in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the abduction and murder of ANC activist, Nokuthula Simelane.
Advocate Simelane, who returned to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Cases Inquiry on Tuesday, following his testimony in March this year, reflected on the 1983 matter, saying it was regrettable for the family to remain in the dark over the matter.
Nokuthula disappeared after she was allegedly abducted and tortured by members of the apartheid security branch of the South African Police (SAP) in 1983.
More than 40 years after her disappearance, her case remains a significant challenge in the TRC and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
In 2016, a prosecution was brought against Willem Coetzee, Anton Pretorius, Frederick Mong, and Msebenzi Radebe, formerly of the Soweto Special Branch police, for their alleged roles in her murder.
Adv Simelane highlighted the emotional toll on families like Nokuthula's, stating: "Personally, I think it is regrettable for families... who feel aggrieved by the TRC processes, to be put in a position where, in respect of their matters, there is no closure."
In February, former apartheid-era crime investigator Andrew Leask detailed the circumstances leading to the disappearance of Nokuthula and the alleged cover-ups that have plagued the investigation for decades.
Chaired by former Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe, the commission has been tasked with shedding light on the reasons some of the cases referred to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the NPA for investigation and prosecution by the TRC have never reached court.
However, the bulk of Simelane's cross-examination by the Calata and other families of the Cradock Four on Tuesday was centred on former NDPP Anton Ackerman's suitability to prosecute TRC cases, especially those against the apartheid-era administration.
In his previous appearance at the commission, Ackerman, who was the head of the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit (PCLU) from 2003 until his retirement in 2013, accused some within the ANC of colluding to remove him from his position as PCLU head.
This stems from suspicions among those who were members of the Directors-General Forum and other members of the ANC, having labelled Ackerman as an "apartheid era prosecutor", a label he previously rejected before this commission.
Advocate Howard Adv Varney, on behalf of the families, observed: "The facts don't seem to support that Ackerman was an apartheid era prosecutor, because, as far as we're aware, by 1994, Ackerman was simply a senior State advocate. He wasn't particularly high in the NPA."
In response, Adv Simelane stated: "What was understood is that he was a senior in an Attorney General's (AG) office. That can be double-checked, but the fact of the matter is that his seniority and his level of engagement in prosecution, irrespective of a court, were of a nature that he dealt with matters that affected liberation movement fighters. And that is enough for those who were involved in those processes to not trust him enough to want to work with him."
The commission has taken an adjournment and will resume on Thursday at 10 am.
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za