Cradock Four families seek lawsuit against State for slow prosecution

The families of the slain Cradock Four are considering suing the state for its slow pace in prosecuting those responsible for the 1985 murders of Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlawuli and Sparrow Mkhonto.

This decision by the families follows the death of Hermanus Barend du Plessis, the last living suspect in the murder case.

This year marks the 38th anniversary since the death of the anti-apartheid activists. Over the last 2 years several witnesses and potential suspects connected to the case have died, including former President FW De Klerk.

Cradock Four families seek lawsuit against State for slow prosecution of 1985 murders:

The relatives of the late Matthew Goniwe, Mbulelo Goniwe and the wife of the late Fort Calata, Nomonde Calata have raised much disappointment in the matter.

“We are extremely distressed by the development. We need quick closure to this agony and we had hoped that we would receive this awaited update about the status of the prosecution of the Cradock killers.”

“It’s a pain for me because in 1985 when my husband was killed I was very young, I was 26 years old and I’m still wishing to have justice in this case I’m getting old now and as I’m getting old I will go into my grave without knowing what really happened that evening the only thing that I know is that my husband was killed by the State Security Forces.”

The National Prosecuting Authorities (NPA) however says investigating teams struggled to find relevant and admissible evidence to proceed with a prosecution for these murders.

NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali says, “The DPP from the Eastern Cape has made a decision on the matter but still needs to communicate this decision to the deceased families before it can be made public. It is unfortunate that we could not proceed to prosecute anyone at this stage, but due to the unique difficulties in the investigation of this matter, it became impossible to proceed with the same. It is our commitment to ensure that the TRC matters are brought to finality so that justice is done.