Cradock Four: Court hears that 49 persons associated with case have died

JOHANNESBURG - The inquest into the deaths of the Cradock Four has heard that 49 persons who are associated with the case have died, and with that, the prospects of truth and justice are fast fading.

The reopened inquest kicked off in the Gqeberha High Court on Monday.

The proceedings are to establish whether security police or other persons can be held liable for the deaths of the anti apartheid activists.

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Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli died in police custody in 1985.

The latest inquest into their deaths is the third over the last forty years.

It's a widespread fear that, by the time the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is ready to proceed with prosecutions, many perpetrators of apartheid-era crimes will no longer be alive to face justice.

Monday, the lawyer for the Cradock Four families, Howard Varney, addressed the court on this reality in the Cradock Four inquest.

"As mentioned, all six members of the police hit squad have died – all the masterminds of whom there was a prima facie case have died – most of the members who sat on the state security council between 1984 and 1985 have died."

The alleged master mind behind the Cradock Four murders and the gruesome killings of the so-called Pebco 3  Hermanus du Plessis, who was the former head of branch black affairs, also died in 2023.

Varney says it's unforgivable that authorities allowed Du Plessis to go to his grave without facing justice.