Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
22 July 1998
Two young men from Alice, Eastern Cape, who were cleared by an inquest magistrate of involvement in the killing of a Ciskei headman, but who subsequently admitted to playing a role and applied for amnesty for the crime have been granted amnesty.
Zuko Makapela and Ludumo Mati applied for amnesty for their role in the killing of Mr Ndodiphela Maseti - a headman belonging to former Ciskei military leader Oupa Gqozo's African Democratic Movement in 1992.
Mr Maseti was stoned to death and his body set alight by a group of angry youth at Upper Gqumashe location, Alice on September 28 1992. The incident came in the wake of the Bisho massacre in which scores of African National Congress supporters were shot dead while marching on Bisho on September 7 1998.
Granting the amnesty, the Amnesty Committee said :"Both applicants admit to some or other form of participation in the attack on the deceased. Their roles were largely peripheral but sufficient to render them legally liable for the killing. In view of the circumstances of the killing, we are satisfied that the incident was clearly of a political nature. (Their) applications are supported by the ANC, which confirmed the membership of (the) applicants as well as the fact that the incident was in accordance with the nature of the political struggle waged at the time.
The Committee recommended that Mrs Thandiswa Maseti be considered as the victim of gross human rights violation by the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee thus making her in line for reparation by the President's Fund.
For full text of the decision contact Odile Pearce on 021 245 161
Inquiries : Vuyani Green , 082 452 7858