DECISION
The applicant applies for amnesty in respect of the murder of Mr Nhanhla Msane which was committed on 17 June 1991 at Kwa Makutha.
The applicant stated that at the time in question he was a supporter of the African National Congress (the ANC). There was at that time conflict in Kwa Makutha between supporters of the ANC and supporters of the IFP who were assisted by the Kwa Zulu police. He alleges that there was a rumour that Mr Nhlanhla Msane (hereinafter referred to as "the deceased") was a Kwa Zulu police informer who had informed on one of the applicant's comrades, Mduduzi Mathobela which resulted in the said Mathodela being shot dead by the police.
The applicant and other comrades were not certain that the deceased had informed on Mathhobela. They therefore decided to confront him about this. The plan was that the applicant would approach the deceased alone so as not to scare him off and then the others would then join them. The deceased was a taxi owner. The applicant got into the deceased's vehicle and asked the deceased to reverse the vehicle as his comrades wanted to speak to him about the death of Mathobela. The deceased ignored the applicant’s request and drove forward. They struggled and the applicant stabbed the deceased twice. Some of the applicant's comrades then entered the vehicle and pushed the deceased from the drivers seat. The applicant then drove the vehicle into another street. The deceased opened the door. The applicant stabbed him again and the deceased then ran away. The applicant chased him, caught up with him and stabbed him again. The applicant then left and the deceased was then approached by some of the applicant's comrades.
The applicant handed himself over to the police some time later at the insistence of his parents. He was convicted of the murder of the deceased and was sentenced to undergo a term of twelve years imprisonment.
The applicant, on being questioned by Mr Wellington Bhekimuzi Msane, the brother of the deceased, showed that he had no knowledge of the then UDF and ANC local structures. He was never a member of a political youth organisation. Neither he nor his co-perpetrators approached any person in the political leadership prior to attacking the deceased. There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the deceased informed against supporters of the UDF or the ANC.
The actions taken against the deceased by the applicant were, in our view, grossly disproportionate to the alleged political objective he pursued. The fact that the deceased disobeyed the applicant's order that he reverse his taxi does not substantiate the rumour that the deceased was a police informer. The assault upon the deceased by the applicant was misguided and unjustified and was not, in our opinion, committed with a political motive.
The application for amnesty is therefore
REFUSED: .
DATED AT CAPE TOWN THIS 15 DAY OF DEC. 1998
JUDGE S MILLER
MR I LAX
MR JB SIBANYONI
