Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
May 24, 1999
Amnesty Decision By The Truth And Reconciliation Commission A senior Independant Electoral Commission officer in the Northern Cape today has been granted amnesty for the brutal killing of a municipal policeman in Upington in 1985.
Justice Bekebeke, 38, now the IEC Northern Cape Director was convicted of murder in 1989 together with 14 accomplices for his role in the murder of Mr. Lucas Sethwala at Paballelo township, Upington. The deceased was stoned to death and his body doused with petrol before being set alight in a running battle between angry residents and police in the town.
Testifying before the TRC in Bloemfontein today, an eloquent and composed Bekebeke, who elected to represent himself, described in gory details how the policeman met his fate prompting one of the deceased next of kin to wail uncontrollably. "I stuck him twice on the head with the butt of a gun after I had disarmed him of his firearm. As he laid down on the ground unconscious, angry residents numbering more than 100 joined in the attack and started stoning him," he testified.
As he was leaving the scene, Bekebeke saw the deceased body being sprayed with petrol and set alight. Asked to identify the people who burned the policeman's body, he said he could not remember as the body was surrounded by scores of angry residents. The committee also heard that the deceased was attacked after he had shot at the protesting residents wounding an 11 year old boy, David Visagie. The protestors were fleeing from police who had broken up their meeting in the township.
Bekebeke and his accomplices were convicted of the murder and given a death sentence in 1989 in a highly publicised trial which ran for 18 months with slain Swapo activist, Anton Loubowski as one of the defense team. The sentence was however commuted to 10 years imprisonment following an appeal.
Bekebeke and his accomplice were released from jail after they were granted indemnity in 1992.
After and adjournment, Judge Denzil Potgieter, flanked with assessors announced that after careful consideration of the application and Bekebeke's testimony, the amnesty committee had found that the killing of the policeman was politically motivated and that the applicant had made full disclosure as required by the TRC's Act. The policeman's mother Mrs.
Beatrice Sethwala was declared a victim of gross human rights violations, thus making her stand in line for reparations from the Presidents Fund.
A visibly elated Bekebeke said he was glad that his name would now be expunged from the criminal record. The family of the deceased did not oppose the application. The hearing will resume on Wednesday May 26, 1999.
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