Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
5 February 1999
The Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission today refused amnesty to a member of the Inkatha Freedom party (IFP); bringing to two the number of IFP members to be denied amnesty at the Committee's hearing in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga this week.
Solomon Mtambo, currently serving twelve years imprisonment, was seeking amnesty for the murder of Mshengu Phungwayo, a prominent member of the African National Congress at Kwadela, Davel, Mpumalanga in May 1993. The Committee earlier this week turned down a bid by another IFP member, Anthony Ndlangamandla, also seeking amnesty for murder.
In both men's testimonies the Committee found that: "...they were fraught with numerous inconsistencies and contradictions. It is clear to us that these are aimed at establishing a political context to support their (respective) assertions that their acts were associated with a political objective".
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