DECISION
The Applicant applies for amnesty in respect of the murder of Violet Masemola, which occurred during, or about 1990 at Matempule, a village in the Vaalbank area, approximately 40 kilometres from Warmbaths.
The Applicant joined the African National Congress ("the ANC") during 1988. He was, during 1990, elected as a member of the Matempule Civic Committee. The Committee consisted of thirteen members of the ANC. The chairman of the Committee was one Koos Mphela.
Violet Masemola ("the Deceased") was suspected of practising witchcraft. She was seen one night sprinkling water on the road and when questioned about this she stated that the water was being sprinkled to prevent ANC members attending meetings. It was also believed that certain ANC members in the area had died because of witchcraft.
A resident’s meeting was called and at the meeting it was decided that the deceased should be brought to the meeting. Koos Mphela instructed the Applicant and four other members of the Civic Committee to fetch the deceased. The five of them went to the deceased’s house. They entered and spoke to her. After a while they heard a crowd outside. The residents of the village who had been at the meeting had come to the deceased’s house. The Applicant exited the house with the deceased. The outbuildings were on fire. Petrol was thrown over the deceased and she was set alight. She died as a result thereof. The Applicant was not personally involved in either pouring petrol over the deceased or setting her alight. He did, however, associate himself in the attack upon the Deceased.
Some time thereafter the Applicant and a number of other persons were arrested and charged with the murder of the deceased. The Applicant was the only person who was convicted and he was sentenced to undergo ten years imprisonment.
Certain contradictions exist between the testimony given by the Applicant t the hearing of this matter on the one hand and the contents of his application form and a written statement signed by himself on the other. Both the application form and the written statement were written in English. The Applicant testified that he cannot read English and that the application form and the statement were not completed or written in English. The Applicant testified that he cannot read English and that the application form and the statement were not completed or written by himself. He therefore cannot vouch for the correctness of the information contained in those documents and insists that the testimony given by himself at the hearing is the correct version of events.
There is no other evidence before us, other than the evidence of the Applicant, as to the events which took place on that fatal day. The explanation given by the applicant as to the previous contradictory statements is reasonably possibly true and we therefore accept his testimony given at the hearing as being truthful. We are accordingly satisfied that the Applicant has made a full disclosure of all relevant facts.
It is clear from the evidence of the Applicant that there was at that time a widespread belief in witchcraft amongst the residents of Matempula, the Applicant included. We accept the evidence that the Applicant and the other members of the Civic Committee also believed that the deceased was acting against the ANC leadership in the village and that she was using her powers to undermine the ANC. We also accept that the acts performed by the Applicant on that day were pursuant to instructions given to him and were not done on his own initiative.
Although the belief in witchcraft was prominent in the motivation of the deceased’s murder, we are satisfied, on a consideration of the evidence before us, that they, and the Applicant in particular, also had a political objective as they believed that the deceased constituted a threat to the ANC and its members in the area. We, in the circumstances, are of the view that the application should succeed and the Applicant is therefore GRANTED amnesty in respect of the murder of Violet Masemola which took place during or about 1990 at or near Matempula.
We are of the view that Salomina Maphoso and Nkonto Ngwenya, the deceased’s next-of-kin, are victims and this matter is referred to the Committee on Reparation and Rehabilitation for its consideration.
DATED at CAPE TOWN this 21 day of November 2000
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JUDGE S M MILLER
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ADV N SANDI
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MR W MALAN
