DECISION
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The applicant is applying for amnesty for three (3) counts of robbery in terms of Act 34 of 1995 as amended.
At all times relevant hereto the applicant was a member of the African National Congress("ANC") and also a member of the Self Defence Unit in the Khumalo area Katlehong. The area in which the applicant lived was approximately 400-600 from the Kwesine Hostel which was an Inkatha Freedom Party ("IFP") stronghold.
It is common cause that there was an ongoing political battle between the IFP hostel dwellers and the ANC people living in the nearby township. The ANC thus formed Self Defence Units (SDU ) to protect their supporters as well as the residents. This they did because the South African Police did nothing to prevent or stop the ongoing violence.
The SDU 's then sought means of trying to obtain arms. It is against this background that the events leading to this application took place.
The applicant testified that on the 16th December 1991 he was instructed by one Manyala, who was a Regional vice Commander of the SDUs, to go and fetch some hardware material at Standerton. The said material was to be used for the manufacturing of homemade weapons for the Self Defence Unit.
He together with the other SDU members was ordered to first rob someone of a vehicle to be used for transporting the hardware material. In compliance therewith, on the 23rd December 1991, and at Nigel the applicant together with Vincent, Mphikeli and Simelane tried to rob Mr Pretorius of a vehicle for the purpose of fetching the aforementioned hardware material. They were, however, arrested by the police at the scene. The car was recovered and no one was injured. The applicant was subsequently charged with and convicted of robbery and the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and sentenced to six (6) years imprisonment.
On the 1st February 1992 the applicant, together with other members of the Unit, was again ordered by his commander, Mr Manyala to go and rob someone of a motor vehicle and then use it in a bank robbery. The money obtained from the bank robbery would have been used for the purchase of weapons for use by the SDU's in their activities. The owner of the motor vehicle was targeted by the Commander because he was alleged to have been an "Umdlwembe" [an alleged IFP supporter and/or sell out]
In pursuance of these orders, on the 10th February 1992 and at Heidelberg, the applicant together with one Simelane robbed Mr Samba of a motor vehicle and thereafter proceeded to rob a Volkskas Bank. They robbed the bank but were caught when the stolen motor vehicle broke down. No one was injured in both the robberies and both the motor vehicle and money were recovered.
The applicant was charged with and convicted of these two counts of robbery as well as the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. He was sentenced to ten (10) years imprisonment on each count. Seven (7) years of the second count was ordered to run concurrently with the sentence on the first count and thus effectively he would serve thirteen years imprisonment. The weapons used in all these robberies were supplied by Mr Manyala in his capacity as an SDU commander and were allegedly used for SDU activities.
Having considered all the evidence before us we are satisfied that crimes for which the applicant seeks amnesty are acts associated with political objective as defined in the Act. We are also satisfied that he has made a full disclosure of all the facts and has complied with all the requirements of the Act.
In the premises the applicant is GRANTED amnesty in respect of the three (3) counts of robbery and two convictions of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
We are of the opinion that the following persons, Mr Pretorius, Mr Sambo and Mrs H van Niekerk are victims as defined in the Act and are hereby referred to the Committee on Rehabilitation for consideration as such in terms of Section 26 of the Act.
Dated at...................this................. day of ................1999.
Signed:
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JUDGE S.KHAMPEPE
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ADV. F. BOSMAN
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MR. I. LAX
