Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
17 July 1996 The killing - execution style - in February 1992, of one most feared man in and around Kroonstad, George "Wheety" Ramasimong, the boss of the notorious "R3 MILLION GANG", and the subsequent slaying of some of his top lieutenants is to feature very prominently during the amnesty hearings in Kroonstad next week.
Out of the nine applications for amnesty that the amnesty committee is going to process, at least five have to do with murder of members of the R3 MILLION GANG.
The seven-member Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, made up of three Supreme Court judges and four advocates, will spend five days listening to the testimony of the applicants, at the Mphohadi College of Education in Moakeng township.
The amnesty hearings at this venue will be held from Monday July 22 to Friday July 26. The hearings will commence each day at 9 in the morning.
An alleged former commander of the Self Defence Unit in Kroonstad, Roland Roy Petrus, who is serving a 14-year prison term for the murder of Ramasimong has applied for amnesty ad will be appearing before the committee.
Other who have applied for amnesty on the grounds that they killed members of this gang, include Johannes Paseka Mpondo who is serving an eight-year term for the murder of gang member, Tsietsi Leboko in Moakeng in, May 1991.
Machabe Petros Thulo who is serving a 10-year term for the murder of gang member Masusu Ngema in Gelukwaarts in February 1991. Nthabeleng Simon Bothetsa who is serving 9 years in prison for the murder of gang member Buti Sekotome in Phomolong township on Christmas Day in 1991, also has applied.
The R3 MILLION GANG a notorious criminal gang that was reportedly adopted by security forces and used extensively by the police to wipe out all the opponents of the state in the area, is reputed to have been responsible for a series of brutal murders, rapes, extortion and robberies. Its work for the police set it on a collision course with activists who were fighting apartheid at the time.
Other applicants for amnesty include Sebolai Justice Segopa who is serving a 27-year term for the murder of three white men and a woman who were killed and set alight in their car near Odendaalsrus in September 1990. Tsediso Ephraim Moalosi serving 11 years for murder of a policeman in Ventersberg. David Thamsanqa Jackson, serving 12 years for the murder of Oupa Petrus Dithebe in Theunissen Joseph Molefe Tshukudu sentenced to 14 years for killing a man in Moakeng township during a consumer boycott and Mandlakapheli Dlamini sentenced to 27 years for murder and arson committed in 1990.
MEDIA ACCREDITATION
All members of the media who will be covering these hearings need to be properly accredited and would therefore have to notify the TRC in time so that we know the numbers we need to cater for. For more information they should please contact:
MDU LEMBEDE (TRC MEDIA SPOKESMAN) PHONE 031 3076745 FAX 031 3076742 CELLULAR 082 4588464