TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 3

Chapter 4

Subsection 20

Sabotage

230. The Committee received just three applications for amnesty for acts and attempted acts of sabotage. Two of these matters were dealt with in chambers. All were granted. No casualties or injuries resulted from these actions.

231. Mr Wandile Merriman Dyanti [AM2486/96] and Mr Shylock Wele Matomela [AM2467/96] applied for amnesty for being in possession of explosive material and for intentionally causing an explosion at the Easigas Plant in Port Elizabeth. Amnesty was granted in chambers [AC/1998/0038 and 0039].

232. PAC/APLA member Silimela Ngesi [AM6020/97] applied for amnesty for an attack on the East London petrol depot on 19 August 1993, and for the attempted killing of a Sergeant Oosthuizen and other members of the SAP in a subsequent shoot-out on the same day.

233.Ngesi told the Amnesty Committee that the acts were committed in execution of the orders of his commander, Mr Bulelani Xuma, who also provided the arms for the operation. He testified that the mission was unsuccessful because the petrol tank did not explode as was intended, and subsequently resulted in the shoot-out with the police.

234. The Amnesty Committee accepted that the applicant was a trained APLA soldier and that his actions were in execution of APLA orders and were there-fore associated with a political objective as required by the Act. Mr Ngesi was granted amnesty.

Limpet mine explosion in Durban

235. APLA member Ndoda Mgengo [AM6386/97] and PASO members Xolani Cuba [AM3845/96] and Mfundo Peter Seyisi [AM6386/97] applied for amnesty for a limpet mine explosion on a bus in Durban on 30 November 1993. Mr Vuyani Namba, also an APLA member, died in the explosion and eleven other people were injure d .

236. Mgengo testified that he had introduced Mr Namba to the other two applicants after he had received instructions from APLA commander Sichumiso Simphiwe Nonxuba, who was based in Umtata. The instructions were to assist Namba in a mission which entailed the bombing by limpet mine of either the Umbilo or Brighton Beach police stations in Durban.

237. Namba, Cuba and Seyisi were on the bus on their way to Umbilo police station when the limpet mine exploded prematurely, killing Namba and injuring Cuba and Seyisi and other passengers.

238. The Amnesty Committee accepted that all the applicants had acted in pursuit of a political objective, which was in accordance with the policies and strategies of the PAC, APLA and PASO. It had not been the applicants’ intention to cause injury to the people on the bus as the limpet mine appeared to have exploded accidentally. The applicants did not act out of ill will, spite or malice or for personal gain. None of the victims who were present at the hearing opposed the applications. The Committee granted amnesty to all three applicants.

Procurement and possession of arms and ammunition

239. The Committee received a total of nine applications for amnesty from PAC and APLA members exclusively for dealing in arms and ammunition. Most were granted in chambers.

240. PAC member Abel Sgubhu Dube [AM6040/97] applied for amnesty for being in unlawful possession of arms and ammunition near the Saambou Bridge on the Limpopo Border on 21 April 1982. He testified that he had obtained the weapons from a Mr Andrew Moeti, the deputy Commander of APLA, then based in Gaborone, Botswana. He was arrested soon after entering the country and was found in possession of an AK-47 and a 9mm Luger pistol. He also applied for amnesty for furthering the aims and objectives of a banned organisation and for harbouring APLA operatives during the armed struggle.

241. Mr Dube satisfied the Committee that the offence was associated with a political objective and he was accordingly granted amnesty [AC/2000/169].

242. Mr Musa Patrick Hadebe [AM6667/97] applied for amnesty for the illegal possession of a machine gun, ammunition and a hand grenade and for one count of murder and one count of attempted murder, offences for which he had been convicted and was serving an effective sentence of 13 years.

243. On 11 November 1997, the Amnesty Committee requested further particulars about the murder cases from both the applicant and the PAC, but received no response. Accordingly, Mr Hadebe was refused amnesty for murder and attempted murder on the grounds that the essential particulars concerning these acts were not supplied in the application or upon request. He was, how-ever, granted amnesty for the illegal possession of arms, ammunition and an explosive [AC/1999/0059].