GOOD Statement by Brett Herron, Unite for Change Leadership Council Member and GOOD Secretary-General:
The GOOD Party applauds the conviction of Abraham Engelbrecht and Pieter Stander for the murder of anti-apartheid activist Caiphus Nyoka in 1987.
The two former policemen shot the anti-apartheid student activist at the Nyoka family home in Daveyton.
While Engelbrecht gave the order, Stander carried out the killing with his colleague, Johan Marais, who admitted to his role and was sentenced to a 15-year prison term earlier this year.
Nyoka’s murder was among approximately 300 serious human rights violations recommended for prosecution by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than 20 years ago. President Ramaphosa recently appointed a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate decades-long delays in addressing the recommendations.
The appointment of the judicial commission followed the launch of a High Court action for damages by several victims’ families.
Under extreme pressure from the families, the State has, of late, shown signs of renewed interest in seeing justice done. It has reopened the Cradock Four and Chief Albert Luthuli inquests – among others – leading to calls last week from the Pan-Africanist Congress for the re-examination of the death of its former leader, the legendary anti-apartheid activist Robert Sobukwe.
The GOOD Party reiterates its call for justice in all 300-plus cases. This is not a matter of vengeance, but of justice. When prosecutors are allowed to act selectively to satisfy their political masters, the integrity of the entire criminal justice system is undermined.
If there was a deal between the ANC and NP to act unlawfully to prevent prosecutions, South Africans have the right to know exactly who took these decisions, and on what authority.
While the wheels of justice often turn painfully slowly, taking 38 years to resolve the Nyoka matter, the fact that they do eventually turn, at least in some cases, offers a measure of hope.
GOOD Political Position: GOOD is a social democratic political party.
First Published here: MyZA.co.za
Did You Know?
- Cradock was founded in 1813 on the banks of the Great Fish River to cater for the migratory farmers who settled in this ruggedly beautiful area with its excellent grazing, abundant water and healthy climate.
- Cradock was officially renamed Nxuba on 26 August 2022. This change was officially gazetted by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, and it was part of a broader effort to rename towns with colonial or apartheid legacies in the Eastern Cape.
- Home to an actual Harry Potter’s grave: A British soldier with the name Harry Potter, who died during the South African War (Anglo-Boer War), is buried in the Cradock cemetery. His grave was discovered in 2002, long before the fictional character became a global phenomenon.
- Location of the last surrender of arms in the South African War: Cradock was the final place in South Africa where arms were officially laid down at the end of the South African War, with the event occurring four days after the Peace of Vereeniging was signed in 1902.
- Birthplace of Afrikaans publication: The first-ever article published in the Afrikaans language appeared in the local newspaper, the Cradock News, on December 4, 1868. This was a report on the separation of the Eastern Cape from the Western Cape, and the paper achieved the largest circulation in the country at the time.
- Second oldest cricket ground and library in South Africa: Cradock’s cricket ground and library are both the second oldest in the entire country, a testament to the town’s early establishment and development of civic amenities.
- Host to a total solar eclipse viewing by a Prime Minister: In 1942, the South African statesman and Prime Minister Jan Smuts came specifically to Cradock to witness a total eclipse of the sun, as the town was the best location for viewing the celestial event.