Thlomedi Ephraim Mfalapitsa’s application to review the decision taken by the amnesty committee to take his murder case to trial has been dismissed by the Johannesburg High Court.
The 70-year-old former Vlakplaas apartheid security officer is facing charges of crimes against humanity and murder.
These are in relation to the murder and attempted murder of four young activists in 1982. They are Eustice “Bimbo” Madikela, Peter “Ntshingo” Matabane, Fanyana Nhlapo and the attempted murder of Zandisile Musi.
Lured the teens to their deaths
The presiding officer in the case, judge Stuart David James Wilson, gave details on the matter. He said in February 1982, Mfalapitsa locked four teenage boys in a building on an abandoned mine.
The building had been rigged with explosives.
“Mfalapitsa had told the boys that he would train them to carry out acts of resistance to the apartheid regime. He took them to the mine under the pretext of teaching them how to use explosives. And he told the boys to wait in the building while he fetched equipment necessary to conduct the lesson. Once he had locked the door, Mfalapitsa ran,” said judge Wilson.
Three of the boys, Eustice “Bimbo” Madikela, Ntshingo Mataboge and Fanyana Nhlapo, were killed instantly. The fourth, Zandisile Musi, survived with life-changing injuries, but has died in the years since the explosion.
“These boys became known as the “COSAS Four”. After the apartheid state collapsed in the early 1990s, Mfalapitsa and his co-accused, Rorich, applied for immunity. They wanted immunity from prosecution for their part in murdering the COSAS Four.
“Their application was made under chapter 4 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act 34 of 1995 (“the Reconciliation Act”), which allowed for amnesty for unlawful acts committed under apartheid. Provided that those acts were “associated with a political objective”, and that they were proportionate to that objective.
Wilson said, amnesty would have provided the two men with complete indemnity for their part in the murder of the COSAS Four.
Amnesty committee not convinced of link to political objective
“As part of his application, Mfalapitsa admitted his role in the murder. He sought to persuade the committee that heard his amnesty application of his position. That his conduct had a proportionate link to a political objective.
“The amnesty committee was not convinced that such a link existed. And the committee denied Mfalapitsa’s application on 29 May 2001. That left Mfalapitsa vulnerable to prosecution.”
However, prosecutions for atrocities committed under apartheid have been a long time coming, said Wilson.
Nearly 23 years after his amnesty application was refused, and 43 years since the boys died, Wilson said the case will go back to court.
“Mfalapitsa’s trial on charges of murdering the COSAS Four is set down in this court for 20 November 2024.”
He now seeks to review and set aside the amnesty committee’s decision to refuse the indemnity he sought.
Indemnity denied, case set for November 20th
“Mfalapitsa’s application is hopelessly out of time. However, I have decided to overlook his delay in bringing the review application. And to dismiss the application on its merits.
“An act that does significantly more than it needs to in order to achieve a particular end is generally disproportionate. In the context of this case, killing the COSAS Four was substantially more than was required in order to eliminate any threat they posed to the apartheid regime. This in general or to the identified objects of their paramilitary plans in particular.”
