A South African court has opened an inquest into the 1985 murders of four anti-apartheid activists, known as the Cradock Four, by a police hit squad.
The activists, Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkonto, were abducted and killed while returning from a United Democratic Front meeting in Port Elizabeth.
Their mutilated bodies were found days later, and despite the Truth and Reconciliation Commission refusing amnesty to six men for the killings, no one has been brought to justice.
This is the third inquest into the murders, with the families accusing the post-apartheid government of intervening to block the case from going to trial.
Advocate Howard Varney, representing the families, told the court that the deaths were a result of a calculated and premeditated decision by the apartheid regime’s state security system.
The families believe this inquest is their last chance for closure and justice, 40 years after the event.
The case is part of a larger effort to uncover the truth behind apartheid-era crimes. Inquests have also been re-opened into the deaths of prominent activists Chief Albert Luthuli, Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge, and civic leader Booi Mantyi.
New evidence has come to light in these cases, including mathematical and scientific reports that contradict official findings.
Furthermore, 25 families and survivors of apartheid-era crimes have brought an application against President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government, seeking constitutional damages for the government’s failure to investigate and prosecute these crimes.
