‘Meddling’ delayed prosecution of apartheid crimes
THE National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said “it is clear that the prosecution (of apartheid-era crimes) was delayed because of political interference”.
This was admitted to by Dr Torie Pretorius, head of the Priority Litigation Crimes Unit in the NPA, in a supplementary affidavit filed this week.
This comes as the family of Imam Abdullah Haron, who died in apartheid police custody, called on the NPA to reopen all inquests into those who died while in detention during that era.
They requested the circumstances leading to Haron’s death on September 27, 1969, be re-investigated and called on the government to publicly apologise for delaying inquests.
In his affidavit, Pretorius is opposing the stay of prosecution application brought by former apartheid cop Joao “Jan” Roderiques.
The 80 year old was facing charges relating to the death of Ahmed Timol in 1971.
The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, during the reopening of the inquest last year, concluded that activist Ahmed Timol was murdered and did not commit suicide, while in detention at the former John Vorster Square in Joburg.
Judge Billy Mothle recommended Roderiques be charged as he did not play open cards with the court during his evidence.
Roderiques is due back in court for his criminal trial on April 8, but his application for a stay of prosecution will be heard by a full bench on March 28.
Timol’s nephew Imtiaz Cajee, opposing the application in his affidavit, said: “In the post-TRC period, the NPA and its officials dealing with my uncle’s case, as well as other so-called political crimes from the past, became subjected to severe political constraints.”
He blamed the NPA for the delays in prosecuting the perpetrators of apartheid crimes who did not receive amnesty during the TRC.
However, Pretorius, in his latest affidavit, denied the NPA was at fault.
He said the unit always wanted these cases investigated and prosecuted.
“It is surprising that the fourth respondent (Cajee) does not take issue with the people responsible for the cover-up and does not seek any punishment against them.”
“It should not be surprising that the government of the day may have taken steps to find a political solution to the political murders which were perpetrated by agents of the pre-1994 government,” in referring to the political crimes, Pretorius said.
He said the NPA, “does not deny that the executive branch of the state took what one can describe as political steps to manage the conduct of criminal investigations and possible prosecutions of the perpetrators of the political murders such as that of Mr Timol”.
Pretorius said former national director of public prosecutions Vusi Pikoli and senior NPA officials Anton Ackermann and Raymond MacAdam confirmed in their affidavits that there was political interference with the NPA’s prosecutorial decisionmaking process.
Pretorius said the delay in prosecuting Roderiques was not as a result of the NPA’s doing.
During his detention, Haron was held incommunicado for 123 days and not allowed to communicate with anyone except his apartheid security police captors and interrogators.
He died in the same year that six other anti-apartheid heroes – Nicodemus Kgoathe, Solomon Modipane, James Lenkoe, Caleb Mayekiso, Michael Shivute and Jacob Monakgotla – lost their lives while being detained by the security police.
His family wanted the government to identify who in the system were protecting perpetrators from being exposed.
They also called for police records to be opened around every incident and for the authorities to publicly state which cases would be opened, as well as to set a realistic time frame of, for example, three years, for the cases to be completed and well resourced.
“We will continue to join hands with families and create platforms, for demanding progress.
“We will educate the public on Imam Haron programmes of transcending religious, political and racial barriers.
“We want to keep the focus squarely on social justice.
“Twenty years into our democracy, only a few have enjoyed the benefits while the majority continue to carry the burdens,” said Haron’s family.