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The trial against two men accused of the 1982 murder and attempted murder of the so-called COSAS 4 will finally get underway following several delays.
The four anti-apartheid activists were members of the Congress of South African Students.
They were Eustice ‘Bimbo’ Madikela, Ntshingo Mataboge and Fanyana Nhlapo, who were killed in a bomb blast near Krugersdorp in 1982.
A fourth man, Zandisile Musi, was injured when a pumphouse was rigged with explosives by officers from the notorious apartheid-era security branch.
The trial against accused, Christiaan Rorich and Thlomedi Mfalapitsa, is expected to finally commence on 14 May in the Johannesburg High Court and has been set down until 27 May 2024.
At the last court hearing on 22 January 2024, Rorich’s legal team sought and obtained another postponement because the fee arrangement with the state attorney’s office had still not been finalised in time.
The Judge re-iterated it would be the last postponement granted.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission denied the accused amnesty because it said there was no evidence the perpetrators were stopping a political act or were forced by the apartheid regime to kill the students.
Executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights, Zaid Kimmie, said at the time: “It will be the first time that charges under international law, specifically the crime against humanity of murder and the crime against humanity of apartheid, will be brought against two individuals in a SA court”.
He added there is reason for cautious optimism.
