decisions AMNESTY DECISIONS MHLANGENI JAMES NTULI AC/99/0285 AM 1563/96 GRANTED https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=58962&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/decisions/1999/ac990285.htm DECISION _____________________ The Applicant, MHLANGENI JAMES NTULI, applies for amnesty in respect of the killing of Mr Majaji Phakathi in Hillbrow, Johannesburg on or about 21 January 1993, the unlawful possession of a Rossi .38 revolver and the unlawful possession of .38 rounds of ammunition. The Applicant was convicted of the above offences on 20 September 1993 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on a charge of murder, two years imprisonment on the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm and six months imprisonment on the charge of unlawful possession of ammunition, all the terms of the imprisonment to run concurrently. The Applicant is at present still serving his sentence. It is common cause that at the time of the incident the IFP and ANC were locked in a battle which often led to violence and killings involving people from the same villages and even members of the same family on opposing sides.. The Committee is aware of other matters where offences were committed not only with a political objective but also involving a strong personal element and carefully considered whether the latter circumstance would exclude the existence of a political objective as required by Section 20 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34 of 1995 ("the Act"). The Committee is of the opinion that despite the strong personal motive which had prompted the Applicant to kill the deceased the incident cannot be removed from the political situation at the time. His personal motive co-existed with the political motive. The Committee accepts the submissions made by the legal representative of the Applicant that there are strong indications that the personal motive was secondary to the political one, inter alia, for the following reasons: The Applicant, his late brother and the deceased all stayed in the same hostel which eventually became IFP domain and which the deceased victim was forced to leave; The Applicant although not a ranking official of the IFP as in the case of his late brother attended IFP meetings and rallies; There was (and this was an explicit finding of the trial Court) no peripheral criminal activity involved in the killing of the deceased. The Committee is furthermore satisfied that the Applicant has made a full disclosure of all material facts and has complied with all the requirements of the Act. Consequently amnesty is GRANTED to the Applicant in respect of the following offences: The killing of Mr Majaji Phakathi in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, on or about 21 January 1993; The unlawful possession of a firearm; and The unlawful possession of rounds of .38 ammunition. In our opinion the next-of-kin of the deceased are victims in relation to the incident and the matter is referred to the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee for consideration in terms of the provisions of Section 22 (1) of the Act. DATED: this ..............day of ....................................1999. _____________________JUDGE DENZIL POTGIETER _____________________ ADV. CHRIS DE JAGER _____________________ADV. FRANCIS BOSMAN