DECISION
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This is an application for amnesty in terms of the provisions of Section 18 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act No. 34 of 1995 ("the Act"). The application relates to various incidents which occurred during August 1980 in the vicinity of Nyanga East and the Crossroad informal settlement in Cape Town. Pursuant to these incidents Applicant was charged in the Cape Provincial Division of the then Supreme Court and convicted of the following offences:
1. Terrorism committed during or about the period 8 - 12 August 1990;
2. The murder of Henry George Beeton on 11 August 1980;
3. The murder of Frederick Casper Jansen on 11 August 1980.
Applicant was sentenced to an effective 20 years imprisonment which he served in the Robben Island prison. He was released from prison on 24 May 1991.
The Applicant testified and submitted various extracts from the relevant Court record of his criminal trial, in support of the application. The next-of-kin of both the deceased attended the hearing but indicated that they are not opposing the application.
According to the evidence, the Black townships in the Cape Peninsula were experiencing widespread political turmoil at the relevant time. There were boycotts of buses, schools and of some businesses in these townships. The first charge of terrorism related to the Applicant's participation in this situation of political strife and conflict which was described as follows in the judgment of the Trial Court :
"It embraces a large number of activities said to have taken place during the period 8th to 12th August 1980. Included are the stoning and petrol bombing of some 31 vehicles, the assaulting of various persons, the barricading of Klipfontein Road, the marching in groups along various public roads, effecting the closure of black schools, and the congregating at the Assembly of God Church and the Roman Catholic Church in order to encourage each other and various other persons to commit the aforegoing."
The 11th August was marked, particularly in the Cape Peninsula, to commemorate the deaths of certain political activists who had died during earlier political uprisings in 1976. The 11th August 1980 was to be no exception. Earlier during the day, information was received at the Nyanga East bus terminus of an attack upon an elderly black lady at Nyanga railway station by a young white policeman. This incensed the people, mostly youths, who had gathered at the bus terminus from where they had to proceed to the venue for the commemoration service. Applicant was present in this crowd and took a leading role in identifying the Assemblies of God Church in the immediate vicinity as an appropriate venue for the commemoration service. The group thereafter proceeded to the church where the minister was initially reluctant to allow the service to be held at the church. Applicant eventually persuaded him to allow the commemoration service to continue in the church. Applicant and various other speakers addressed the gathering. Subsequent to the service a decision was taken outside of the church hall to attack government motor vehicles as well as any white people whom the crowd may come across. The crowd, which Applicant estimated to have been in excess of 2000, proceeded to certain barricades which had been erected in Klipfontein Road. These barricades prevented entry into Crossroads. After a while a motor vehicle driven by Mr Beeton approached the barricades and eventually came to a halt close to the barricades. Applicant and the other members of the crowd started stoning the vehicle. Extensive damage was caused to the vehicle and the driver, the late Mr Beeton, seriously injured. Members of the crowd pulled Mr Beeton out of the vehicle and continued stoning him as he was lying on the road. The body was eventually left lying on the road.
Shortly after the attack upon Mr Beeton a light delivery vehicle driven by Mr Jansen moved along Klipfontein Road towards the barricades. The vehicle came to a stop some distance from the barricades and the driver attempted to turn the vehicle around and to drive away from the crowd. The vehicle was, however, surrounded by the crowd and attacked with heavy stones and bricks before it could drive off. Applicant and other members of the crowd pulled the driver Mr Jansen from the vehicle and threw him onto the ground next to the driver’s door and continued to stone him. After a while a member of the crowd opened the petrol tank of the vehicle and set the vehicle alight. Mr Jansen’s clothes caught fire and he attempted to put out the flames in a nearby pool of water. An army vehicle arrived on the scene but was immediately attacked by the crowd. The vehicle turned around and retreated from the scene without rendering any assistance to the two injured men on the scene. The crowd eventually left the scene leaving the bodies of the deceased as well as the burning vehicle of Mr Jansen behind. The crowd proceeded to a nearby school where petrol bombs were manufactured which were then subsequently used in further attacks upon government vehicles moving in the nearby Lansdowne Road.
Applicant was arrested in respect of these incidents on 5 September 1980 and eventually stood trial with a number of co-accused including Mr Oscar Mpetha who was accused no. 1 and a high profile ANC leader at the time. The trial was widely publicised and lasted for approximately 2¼ years.
Applicant indicated that in the turbulent political mood that prevailed at the time, white people were regarded as the political enemy and were generally accepted as targets for attack by political activists. The attack upon the deceased was not planned but as Applicant indicated, they were only "ordinary white men caught in the crossfire at the time".
Having carefully considered the matter as well as the evidence and other material placed before the Committee, we are satisfied that all of the offences committed by the Applicant as set out above, constitute acts associated with a political objective as envisaged in the Act. Applicant’s actions clearly resulted from the political conflict at the time and were a direct result of the struggle for political liberation in which Applicant, as a supporter of the ANC, was engaged in at the time. We are moreover satisfied that the Applicant had made a full disclosure of all relevant facts and that the application complies with all of the other requirements of the Act.
In the circumstances amnesty is hereby GRANTED to Applicant in respect of the following offences more fully set out above :
1. Terrorism committed during the period 8 - 12 August 1980 at or near Nyanga East and Crossroads, Cape Town;
2. Murder of Henry George Beeton on 11 August 1980 in Klipfontein Road, near Crossroads, Cape Town;
3. Murder of Frederick Casper Jansen on 11 August 1980 in Klipfontein Road, near Crossroads, Cape Town.
In our opinion the next-of-kin of both deceased are victims in relation to the murders and they are accordingly referred for consideration in terms of the provisions of Section 22 of the Act.
DATED at CAPE TOWN this ______ day of __________ 1999.
________________________
Judge DENZIL POTGIETER
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Adv. F. BOSMAN
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Adv. S. SIGODI
PANEL: Potgieter, J.; Adv. F. Bosman, Adv. S. Sigodi
EVIDENCE LEADER: Ms R. Patel
DATE & VENUE: 19 October 1999
106 Adderley Street
CAPE TOWN
LEGAL REP. FOR APPLICANT: Mr Crossley
Crossley & Dykman Inc.
7th Floor, Groote Kerk Building
39 Adderley Street
CAPE TOWN
Tel.: 4654546
Fax : 4610800
VICTIMS: Mr Henry George Beeton (deceased)
n.o.k. : Mrs Doreen Beeton (wife)
17 Mallard Street
Els Park
GERMISTON
Tel. (011) 916-1194
Mr Jeff Beeton (son)
Tel. 0832589800
Mr Frederick Casper Jansen
n.o.k. : Mrs Jansen (wife)
607 Elm Court
Rooikrans Road
THORNTON
Tel.: 542721
Audrey Hopkins (daughter)
Beryl Gorton (daughter)
