DECISION
The applicant was charged with and convicted of the murder of Mkholodaka Gumede committed on the 29th of February 1992 at Makholokholo Reserve near Mtunzini. The applicant was sentenced to fifteen (15) years' imprisonment. It is in respect of this offence that applicant applies for amnesty.
The applicant was the son of the local Chief and a founder member of the local branch of the African National Congress (ANC). The deceased was a Chief Counsellor to the applicant's father, Chief Lindelihle Mzimela and a prominent member of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). Mrs Gumede, the widow of the deceased, also gave evidence that the deceased was a prominent member of the IFP. The applicant testified that in the kwaZulu government it was almost decreed that all Chiefs in Natal had to belong to the IFP and not belong to other political organisations. Naturally his father and the members of the Mzimela clan were ardent followers of the IFP. It is common cause that there were conflicts between the ANC and the IFP for political turf in the whole of Natal and particularly in this area and this resulted in one group attacking another.
When the ANC was unbanned in 1990, the applicant and some of his brothers, joined that organisation. At first they concealed their membership and conducted their political meetings clandestinely in fear of detection by their father and IFP members in the area. After some time it however became difficult to conceal their membership and they then openly held themselves out as ANC members. The IFP members, including some of the applicant's brothers loyal to the IFP, viewed their membership as an ultimate act of betrayal. This resulted in the clan being divided and in an acceleration of violence in the area.
Subsequently many members of the ANC were allegedly killed by the IFP. Amongst those killed immediately after 1990 was the applicant's brother, Bonginkosi, his child and his wife. Bonginkosi was next in line to succeed the Chief. During 1990 the Chief was very ill and was thought to be dying. Bonginkosi was therefore killed to prevent the chieftainship from falling into the hands of the ANC. The deceased was implicated in the death of Bonginkosi.
During 1992 the conflict in the area intensified and more supporters from the ANC were killed by people who the applicant believed were members of the IFP. According to the applicant, the police did nothing to investigate these deaths because they sided with the IFP. On the 22nd of February 1992, the applicant's brother, Gerald, also an ANC member, was killed by a group of persons belonging to the IFP. The applicant was informed that earlier that day a meeting had been convened by the deceased, where a decision was taken to kill Gerald because of his political activities. On the 29th of February 1992, the applicant and two of this brothers (who have since died in politically related incidents) went to town in preparation for Gerald's funeral. Whilst in the bus en-route to town, he and his brothers saw the deceased in his house. They then alighted from the bus, went to the deceased's house and the applicant fired several shots at him and killed him.
The applicant contended that the political objective which he sought to achieve by killing the deceased, was to bring an end to the litany of killings which had been committed against the ANC members by the IFP. He explained that the deceased was believed to have given instructions for the elimination of ANC members. The deceased had been seen by some ANC members participating in the killings of ANC members in the area. He testified that despite the fact that the deceased's name, as well as those of other assailants had been furnished to the police, no prosecution had resulted from those incidents. He and his comrades therefore believed that the police were not investigating the killing of ANC members because they sided with the IFP and they, as ANC members, felt completely helpless. They had felt compelled to resign themselves to their own devices. He explained that though the last straw was indeed the killing of his brother, Gerald, he did not regard his actions as revenge, but rather as an act which was necessary at the time in order to bring an end to the killing of his comrades. He therefore believed that by killing a prominent member of the IFP who was issuing instructions for the elimination of ANC member, he would prevent further killings of his co-members.
Having regard to the evidence tendered before us, we are satisfied that the applicant complies with the requirements of the Act and that the offence to which the application relates, is an act associated with a political objective. The applicant's application for
AMNESTY IS ACCORDINGLY GRANTED: .
SIGNED ON THE 14th DAY OF JULY 1997.
(Signed)
MALL, J
WILSON, J
NGOEPE, J
ADV C. DE JAGER SC
MS S. KHAMPEPE
