Resolving TRC cases may take up to five more years — NPA
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has set a target of three to five years to finish its work on cases the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC0 referred for possible prosecution.
The TRC which submitted its report 24 years ago, referred 300 cases of those who did not apply for or were not granted amnesty. These were mainly security branch or other police officers. Of these cases, 129 are under investigation by the NPA and the Hawks or before court. The NPA is reviewing some cases where it was decided previously not to proceed with them.
The number of cases being investigated rose dramatically over the past year. In a written reply last week to a parliamentary question by GOOD MP Brett Herron, justice minister Ronald Lamola said that before September 2021 the Hawks were investigating 59 TRC cases.
“Since September 2021 to July 2022, a total of 64 new matters have been referred to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) for investigation,” the minister said.
“The criteria used is to first establish if the charge/s against person/s have not prescribed. Once it has been ascertained that the matter was referred by the TRC, and the charges have not prescribed, then the matter is referred for reopening to the DPCI for the allocation of an investigator. After an investigator is appointed, the matter is referred to the office of the relevant director of public prosecutions (DPP) where a dedicated TRC prosecutor is assigned the matter for a prosecution guided investigation to take place.”
The long delay in investigating the cases has added to the difficulty in resolving them as witnesses and possible accused have died or claim to be so old as to be unable to follow court proceedings. Records have also been destroyed. Parliament’s justice and correctional services committee chair Bulelani Magwanishe said at a meeting on TRC cases on Friday: “We should have started earlier.” He said progress was being made and “we are beginning to see some light but we are not yet there”.
NPA deputy director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock told committee members that a dedicated team of 25 prosecutors in the NPA and 40 dedicated investigators in the Hawks around the country were working exclusively on TRC matters.
“We hope to complete this work during a period of three to five years, but are doing everything in our power to move the matters as fast as we can. We have motivated for a permanent capacity to deal with TRC matters,” he said. “We want to get the job done as fast as possible.”
Of the 129 cases the NPA is dealing with, 29 are in KwaZuluNatal, 25 in Johannesburg, 16 in Pretoria, 14 in the Eastern Cape, 11 in Mthatha, 10 in Limpopo, and nine in the Western Cape. Five cases each are in Mpumalanga and North West, three in Northern Cape and two in Free State.
De Kock said the NPA planned to appoint senior counsel with knowledge of the TRC to assess whether measures it adopted to deal with TRC cases are adequate and if not to recommend how they can be strengthened. One case due in court is the Cosas four murder trial of the now deceased askari Thlomedi Ephraim Mfalapitsa and his accomplice, former Ermelo security branch explosives expert WO Christian Sievert Rorich. The case was delayed because the SA Police Service refused to pay Rorich’s legal fees. The Cosas four were Eustice “Bimbo” Madikela, Ntshingo Mataboge and Fanyana Nhlapo, who wanted to join MK.