It's been a very long road. All that we ever wanted was the truth.
This sentiment was shared by family members of the anti-apartheid activists known as the Cradock Four in Gqeberha on Monday, shortly after being dealt yet another blow in the Gqeberha High Court.
The families of Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli, and Sparrow Mkonto expressed their disappointment at the postponement of the much-anticipated reopening of the inquest into the murders of their loved ones.
In a bitter twist of events, the inquest was postponed to June next year, which marks the 40th anniversary since a military signal was sent out calling for their permanent removal from society, and their ultimate deaths.
Calata, Goniwe, Mhlauli, and Mkonto died at the hands of the apartheid regime on 27 June 1985.
The delay in finalising the scheduled three-week inquest is due to the lawyers of the former police and army witnesses saying they had too little time to prepare and were not able to secure state funding for their clients, Eugene de Kock, Izak Engelbrecht, Christoffel van der Westhuizen, and Craig Williamson.
Legal costs for Mbulelo Goniwe, the nephew of Matthew Goniwe, have also not been finalised.
According to the families, each day that passes brings with it the risk that yet another person involved or associated with the crime could pass away.
At the start of the proceedings, 49 people who were associated in one form or another with the case were identified, but virtually all of them have died.
They include the six members of the police hit squad namely Major Johan Martin "Sakkie" Van Zyl, Lieutenant Eric Alexander Taylor, Sergeant Gerhardus Jacobus Lotz, Warrant Officer Mbalala Glen Mgoduka, Sergeant Amos Temba Faku, and Xolile Shepard Sakati.
According to court documents, most of the masterminds who planned or facilitated the operation and most of the members who sat on the State Security Council (SSC) between 1984 and 1985 have died.
Of the 27 persons who attended one or both SSC meetings on 19 March 1984 and 10 June 1985, at least 14 have died.
Since the families launched a civil application to compel the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to finalise their investigations in July 2021, Eric Winter (former Cradock Security Branch Commander), F.W. de Klerk (former President), Johannes Velde van der Merwe (former SAP Commissioner), Adriaan Vlok (former Minister of Police), Barend du Plessis (former Minister of Black Education) and Hermanus Barend du Plessis (former head of the Security Branch's Black Affairs unit in Port Elizabeth).
Leading Human Rights Lawyer and former TRC Commissioner Yasmin Sooka said all of the surviving persons of interest are in the twilight of their lives with the eldest being 88 years old.
Calata's widow, Nomonde said 39 years was a very long time to wait for justice.
"I thought today we would start to hear the truth, but yet again, we were disappointed.
"We are getting older and the perpetrators are dying.
"I am disappointed because it took such a long time to get to where we are now."
Mhlauli's wife, Nombuyiselo, said the trauma is dismantling families.
The families believe that should the question of legal costs for former state officials and Mbulelo Goniwe drag on through litigation in multiple courts, it will effectively "kill off" the inquest.
"A toxic mix of political interference, incompetence, and indifference has shut down virtually all the TRC cases over the last two decades.
"There are only a handful of cases that can be taken forward, and the clock is ticking in all of them.
"Yet we see little sense of urgency on the part of the authorities," the families' lawyer said in a court document.
They are represented by Johannesburg-based Cliffie Decker Hofmeyer (CDH) on a pro bono basis.
Beshe rescinded a previous judgment which ordered the State Attorney, the SAPS, and SANDF to expedite the payment of the reasonable legal costs of the former state officials to prevent further delay on the inquest.
The inquest has been postponed to 2 - 20 June 2025.
