40 YEARS ON – FAMILY STILL WAITS FOR JUSTICE

DELAYS: Two of the four ex-security police suspects charged with MK cadre Nokuthula Simelane’s “disappearance” are dead; and one of the two remaining suspects alleged to be ‘mentally challenged’…

By Jabulani Khumalo

The Simelane family is seemingly close to getting the truth of what happened to their daughter, Nokuthula Simelane in 1983 who was an underground operative and a member of the African National Congress.

Forty years later, her mysterious “disappearance” while on an ANC mission from eSwatini to South Africa is still to be solved. And her family, who live in the Mzinoni township of Bethal in Mpumalanga still harbours strong hopes – in spite of case delays since the arrest of the suspects in 2016 – they will finally get closure.

In September 1983, Simelane was abducted from an underground parking lot at the Carlton Centre in central Johannesburg. The Umkhonto we Sizwe operative had gone there to meet a man she thought was a comrade, Norman Khoza.

But, unknown to her, she had been lured into a trap, with Mkhonza having alerted his commander, Willem Helm Coetzee, of this meeting. The information was also relayed to the overall commander of the Soweto Security Police, H Muller, who ordered Simelane’s abduction, in the hopes of turning her into a police asset.

According to the case file with the Foundation of Human Rights, a group of police officers including Coetzee, Anton Pretorius, J F Williams, J E Ross, Moleke Peter Lengene, Frederick Barnard Mong, M L Selamolela, Msebenzi Timothy Radebe, and Mkhonza apprehended Simelane. She was placed in the boot of a car, and taken to the ‘Custodum’ Flats in Norwood, where the Security Police had an operational office. Williams, Ross and Mkhonza ceased their participation in the proceedings, while MM Veyi joined the group. At Custodum, Simelane was subjected to repeat interrogations and various forms of torture.

Sometime later, Simelane was transferred to a farm in Northam, in the North West province. Here, she was detained for about five weeks, and subjected to more interrogations and torture. Her whereabouts from this point become unclear, although a statement by Veyi indicates that Coetzee and Pretorius allegedly shot and buried Simelane somewhere in Rustenburg.

On discovering her disappearance, Simelane’s family made enquiries at the borders of South Africa and Swaziland, but could find no record of her. The family also made enquiries with the ANC, and in neighbouring countries.

Unable to discover her whereabouts, or find her remains, the family reported her missing to the police in both South Africa and Botswana. In the four decades since, Simelane’s fate has yet to be conclusively determined.

In 2001, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC’s) Amnesty Committee granted amnesty to some of the implicated perpetrators for Nokuthula’s abduction, yet none of them applied for amnesty for her murder.

In 2016‚ a prosecution was brought against Willem Coetzee‚ Anton Pretorius‚ Frederick Mong, and Msebenzi Radebe‚ formerly of the Soweto Special Branch police‚ for their alleged roles in her murder.

The case was delayed when the defendants requested the South African Police Service (the successor of the SAP) to pay their legal costs. In January 2020, the accused appeared in court.

Last week, the South African Communist Party (SACP) leaders visited the Simelane home before the Govan Mbeki Memorial Lecture, of which general secretary, Solly Afrika Mapaila, was the keynote speaker on July 30.

Nokuthula’s younger sister, who is a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Thembi Nkadimeng, welcomed the guests and opened up about the developments around Nokuthula’s case.

“We were in court on July 17. We are in a trial-within-trial because we were able to get all the information and the four accused were charged.

“Two of them died (Radebe and Nong) and we are left with the other two, Pretorius and Coetzee. The case has dragged for long because there were delays in between.

“Radebe died during the early stages of Covid-19. The second (Nong) accused died under strange circumstances. The story is that he fell from a roof and sustained a brain haemorrhage and succumbed to it.

“Coetzee is the main person, however, he now claims to have mental issues. He came with a report to the court that stated he was not able to stand for trial because he has dementia and will, therefore, not be able to recall what happened.

“The state opposed the report and took him to Weskopies Mental Institution for three months. The report from Weskopies stated that he can stand for trial. The state now needs to defend its report and the medical doctors must also substantiate their reports and the judge will make a decision whether he will stand trial or not,” said Nkadimeng.

She added that she hopes the case will be resolved and has tried to motivate the National Prosecuting Authority to start the trial with Pretorius. However, they said they did not want to separate them.

“We do believe their decision, we are not legal people and it may not sound right to us legally, but it is and that is how they will approach the case,” she stated.

The case is due to resume on October 17, when it is expected that the report will come under the spotlight with the latest panel of psychiatrists being questioned about its findings on whether Coetzee should face his trial or not. – Mpumalanga Mirror