Apartheid-era crimes judicial review bid slammed

Loved ones of the victims of South Africa's (SA) apartheid-era crimes currently under the spotlight at the Khampepe Commission have slammed what they say is a ‘closing of the ranks’ on the part of former heads of state Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki, and the incumbent, President Cyril Ramaphosa. ‘Do they have hearts?’ an emotional Nomonde Calata – whose husband, Fort Calata, was part of the Cradock Four, who were killed in 1985 – asked yesterday. She was speaking at a press briefing hosted by the Foundation for Human Rights at its offices in downtown Johannesburg. They have now approached the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) with an urgent application, which is set to be heard today. The Sunday Tribune reports that the two former leaders are seeking a judicial review of a decision by Justice Sisi Khampepe, who rejected their requests for her recusal from presiding over the inquiry. The inquiry was established in May 2025 after 25 families of victims and survivors, supported by the Foundation for Human Rights, successfully pushed for a probe into claims that apartheid-era murder and torture cases recommended for prosecution by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) were deliberately blocked. The commission is mandated to investigate allegations that political interference within SA’s criminal justice system prevented hundreds of cases involving killings, disappearances and other serious crimes from being prosecuted after the TRC process. Applicants in the case represent families of several high-profile victims and activists, including members of the Cradock Four, the Pebco Three and individuals who were forcibly disappeared during the apartheid era. Survivors of incidents such as the 1993 Highgate Hotel massacre in East London are also among those involved.

Khampepe, in January, dismissed applications from Zuma and Mbeki for her recusal. A central bone of contention is Khampepe’s previous service as a prosecutor on the TRC panel that refused Zuma and Mbeki’s applications for amnesty as ANC members. News24 this month reported that Ramaphosa was not opposing his predecessors’ High Court bids – and had, in fact, himself asked Khampepe to step down over the ‘controversy’ surrounding her appointment. Fort Calata’s son, Lukhanyo Calata, has now deposed to an affidavit, requesting the court not to accept these submissions. Nomonde lamented how much they had to go through to reach this point: ‘My feeling is this government does not see us as human beings. They decide for themselves, by themselves. Now that we’ve fought until we are with the commission of Justice Khampepe, again they’re trying by all means to stop that too.’

Full News24 report

Full Sunday Tribune report

On Friday, former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Advocate Vusi Pikoli said he was forced out of the NPA after refusing political pressure to drop apartheid-era cases, reports EWN. Pikoli concluded his two-day testimony before the Khampepe Commission probing delays in prosecuting apartheid-era cases. Pikoli said resistance stalled apartheid-era prosecutions. He said Ministers questioned the NPA's decision to prosecute unresolved TRC cases. He said his tenure at the NPA was cut short after he refused to abandon cases coming out of the TRC. Adding that the political pressure came from ANC leaders’ anxiety about also being prosecuted for their pre-1994 activities through uMkhonto weSizwe. ‘I said to the Minister (that) I am not going to resign, that I will be lying to the nation and myself because I will not be in a position to state the real reason. I will have to lie to myself. I am not prepared to do that. For the sake of independence of prosecutors, it can’t be right for a member of the executive to ask a national director to resign,’ he said. He also linked his suspension to his decision to go ahead with the prosecution in the Frank Chikane case. Pikoli was suspended in September 2007 by then-President Thabo Mbeki, triggering the establishment of the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry to determine his fitness to hold office. He was, however, cleared of any wrongdoing. Pikoli told the commission that in the lead-up to his suspension, there had been meetings with various Ministers where concerns were expressed about proceeding with the cases and particularly Advocate Anton Ackermann’s involvement in the prosecution.

First EWN report

Second EWN report