Why the truth about the Cradock Four still matters

South Africa is once again confronting one of apartheid’s darkest chapters.

New testimony has raised urgent questions about justice and accountability at the Cradock Four inquest.

Former apartheid operative Eugene de Kock has returned to the stand at the inquest, which seeks to determine what really happened to Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli.

It was set up to establish who is liable for the deaths of the four anti-apartheid activists, after two other attempts failed to uncover the full story.

Former judge Chris Nicholson is the author of Permanent Removal: Who Killed the Cradock Four.

ALSO READ: Court shown locations where apartheid special branch police allegedly surveilled Cradock Four

"In my book, what I try to show is that the circumstantial evidence shows that the request to permanently remove the Craddock Four must have been agreed to by the State Security Council... I show that they must have been responsible for giving the order for the Craddock Four to be murdered."

Nicholson points out that De Kock’s testimony, which includes claims that the four were activists and not terrorists, raises further questions.

"Eugene de Kock was advising one of the killers of the Craddock Four on how he could hide the identifying characteristics on the gun he used in shooting them."

On Monday, De Kock denied any role in the killings, but did acknowledge that apartheid-era security forces often used coded language such as 'permanent removal' for killings and that such orders mostly came from senior officials.

"Eugene de Kock told the TRC how he would interpret the facts that I put in my book, in other words, what actually happened at the State Security Council... what he was clarifying was the use of euphemisms like 'permanent removal' which was really a request to kill them."

ALSO READ: Judge visits locations related to killings of Cradock Four

The Cradock Four were anti-apartheid activists from Cradock who were abducted and killed by security police in June 1985.

Although the apartheid government denied involvement, later evidence linked state forces to the murders, but no individuals were held accountable.

To listen to Nicholson in conversation with CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit, use the audio player below: