8 may 2001
"I am very suspicious about the events leading to the crash, suspicion was not enough to reopen the inquiry, and that at the moment there was "a lot of hearsay and no concrete evidence".
says Minister of Transport, Dullah Omar.
The Minister of Transport, Dullah Omar said the decision to re-open or not to re-open the judicial inquiry into the 1987 Helderberg air crash has not been made by Government. Such a decision would be considered only after the findings of a review into fresh allegations on the cause of the disaster have been presented to Cabinet.
"We are mindful of the concerns raised by relatives and families of the victims. We understand their pain and trauma and we also want the matter to be brought to finality", Omar said.
Minister Omar confirmed that he was aware of the many allegations and suspicions with regard to the cargo on the plane, where the fire started, the possible complexities of certain people and what happened to the voice recordings.
The Helderberg crashed into the Indian Ocean 160km from Mauritius in 1987, killing all 159 people on board. "It must be remembered that the Helderberg took place at the height of the apartheid era and the apartheid government and its henchmen resorted to all kinds of methods to achieve its objectives with no regard to human life", Omar said.
An inquiry into the crash in the 1980s, headed by Judge Cecil Margo, concluded that no blame could be apportioned and there was no evidence to establish the cause of the fire. In 1998, the TRC held hearings behind closed doors about the plane crash. The TRC report said its investigation into the matter "raised significant questions about the incident as well as the subsequent investigations that were conducted". The TRC investigations found that nothing in the cargo's inventory could have resulted in a fire, and that there was no reliable list of what cargo was being transported when it crashed.
A directive had been given to National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka and the Civil Aviation Authority to review the new allegations made about the cause of the accident. "I have been informed that the NDPP has carried its work in this regard and was finalising its report to me", Omar said.
Omar said the Cabinet desired total transparency and wanted "to pursue the matter to ensure we get to the truth". He added that while he was "very suspicious" about the events leading to the crash, suspicion was not enough to reopen the inquiry, and that at the moment there was "a lot of hearsay and no concrete evidence".
"Whatever decision is arrived at, every effort will be made to communicate with the relatives", Omar concluded.
ISSUED BY
Mike Mabasa
HEAD: Media Liaison and Corporate Communication
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT
TEL: 083 680 7048
FAX: 083 676 8450