: DECISION
The three Applicants are applying for amnesty with regard to an incident which took place on 28 September 1988 where a bomb was detonated at the Bonteheuwel Rent Office near Cape Town.
All the Applicants testified Mr Salie was the Commander of the unit which comprised himself, the other two Applicants and the late Coline Williams. His tasks as the Commander of this unit was to plan co-ordinated attacks. The blast at the Bonteheuwel Rent Office occurred simultaneously with two other blasts in the Peninsula that night. It was aimed at restoring the image of Umkhonto weSizwe ("MK") its presence as well as the African National Congress ("ANC") presence in Bonteheuwel.
Thus as Commander, Mr Salie's role was to plan operations in furtherance of the aims of the ANC and MK and also to procure the material for those operations.
On the 28th September 1988, the three Applicants decided that the Bonteheuwel Rent Office was going to be a target of an attack. Reconnaissance of the area had been done three (3) weeks earlier in order to ensure that nobody would get hurt during the bombing of the building. The Applicants established that the area near the Rent Office was not used at night. They found that the streets would be empty at night because the area was dark and there was no activity in that vicinity.
They stated that if they had found that the area was used at night, they would have abandoned the operation.
After scanning the area, the late Coline Williams and Vanessa Rhoda November went to the Rent Office at about 19H00. They placed a mini limpet mine in an old used milk carton and placed it on its side facing the front door of the Rent Office.
It was placed in such a way that maximum damage would be caused to the building by the explosion. The bomb was time to go off in the early hours of the morning. This offence was committed in furtherance of the objectives of the ANC and its military wing MK. The rent office was a government structure, identified as an instrument of oppression and therefore a target for attack. Another objective was also to start a rent boycott to bring economic hardship to the apartheid machinery.
The Applicants later learnt that a person had been injured as a result of the explosion. The victim was Moegamat Nurudien Bartlett.
Having heard the evidence the Committee is satisfied that the Applicants have complied with all the formalities of the Act and with the requirements of Section 20(1)(a) (b) (c) of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act 34 of 1995 as amended.
Amnesty is therefore GRANTED to the Applicants in respect of all offences and/or delicts flowing from the planting of the bomb at the Bonteheuwel Rent Office on 28 September 1988.
The position of the injured person, Moegamat Nurudien Bartlett is referred to the Reparations and Rehabilitation Committee for its consideration.
SIGNED AT CAPE TOWN ON THIS 1ST DAY OF FEBRUARY 2001
JUDGE R PILLAY
ADV F BOSMAN
ADV S SIGODI
