Jailed Apla commander says no to ‘unreasonable’ parole
YEARNING: Mantombi Magagula and Busi Magagula, family of Kenny Motsamai, an Apla member who has been in jail for 26 years, are waiting for his release FORMER Azanian People’s Liberation Army commander Kenny Motsamai, who was initially granted parole last week, will not be released next month as initially scheduled.
He has already spent 26 years behind bars after being convicted of murder.
But in a surprise announcement, Justice Minister Michael Masutha has put the parole on hold pending an “investigation”.
The minister’s spokesman, Mthunzi Mhaga, said that on December 1 Masutha had approved parole for Motsamai, 52, after the National Council of Correctional Services had recommended his release.
Motsamai had been due for release on January 18. “However, subsequent to the minister’s approval, new development necessitated an investigation by the Department of Correctional Services. We are not at liberty to give details of those internal investigations until they have been finalised,” Mhaga said.
But Motsamai’s lawyer Luleka Flatela said one of the parole conditions was that her client be electronically tagged, and he refused to accept this.
“One condition is that he should be given a day parole and that a tracking device be attached to him. His stance is that the conditions are unfair and unreasonable,” said Flatela.
Motsamai’s family had hoped that he would spend Christmas with them. Instead, his daughter Busi Magagula, 25, was not allowed into the Boksburg Prison to spend Christmas with her father MONITORING: Kenny Motsamai refuses to be tagged — an annual ritual since she was 12.
He is reported to be on a hunger strike and is in solitary confinement.
Motsamai was jailed for the murder of a white traffic officer in what he claimed was a politically motivated killing.
He was denied the blanket amnesty he sought from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
His parole came as a result of a court battle at the High Court in Johannesburg that ended with Motsamai’s lawyers reaching an agreement with Masutha’s legal team that he be recommended for parole.
Said Magagula: “Today I am still as sad as I have been over the past few years because my father has been denied freedom. I had hoped that he would be out so that we can be a family again, at least for him to see his grandson who is already four now.
“I just want him home but I am confused now about what is going on. We are not getting any answers anymore.”
The murdered traffic officer had witnessed Motsamai and three members of his Apla unit rob a supermarket in Rustenburg. They were later arrested and Motsamai was sentenced to death, which was converted to life imprisonment. Prisoners serving life terms become eligible for parole after 25 years.
Magagula said her father had done his time and should freed.
“He has served his time and there have been countless visits by correctional services officers to our house to verify if he will live here. It is heartbreaking that for so many years I have only seen him in prison clothes every Christmas,” she said.
Her mother, Mantombi, who was also a member of Apla and was pregnant with her at the time of Motsamai’s arrest, said she longed for a proper family.
“I have been waiting for so long, I see people walking in malls at this time of the year with their spouses and children and I always wonder when will that day be for me,” said Mantombi.
According to Mantombi, Motsamai counsels new prisoners, works as a handyman and has converted to Islam in prison.
Motsamai’s case has again put the spotlight on political prisoners denied amnesty by the TRC. The Presidency has received requests for presidential pardons from 926 such prisoners.
Former Apla commander Chris Sankara said Motsamai had been carrying out orders from the Pan Africanist Congress.