The judicial commission of inquiry into efforts to suppress the investigation or prosecution of apartheid-era crimes has called on the public to submit any relevant evidence by October 10, ahead of its first sitting scheduled for November 10. It is a full 55 days away from today.
The inquiry, chaired by retired Constitutional Court Judge, Justice Sisi Khampepe, is investigating whether political interference blocked prosecution of cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The commission confirmed its timeline in a media statement released on Tuesday.
“The Chairperson of the Inquiry, Justice Sisi Khampepe, and her co-commissioners, retired Judge President Diale Kgomo and Advocate Andrea Gabriel SC, agreed that four weeks would be sufficient for those with relevant information to submit it,” said spokesperson Lionel Adendorf.
Interested and affected parties are invited to file witness statements, memoranda, reports, and any other documentation that could assist the commission’s work.
Court clears hurdles
The announcement follows a ruling by the Pretoria High Court handed down on August 1 2025, which dismissed an application by former president Thabo Mbeki and former justice minister Brigitte Mabandla to intervene in a civil case brought by the families of apartheid victims. The pair argued that they might be prejudiced by the proceedings, but the court found that they were not personally targeted in the relief sought.
The court noted that Mbeki and Mabandla were not directly accused of wrongdoing and that their mention in the case was minimal and mostly hearsay. Mbeki was cited 21 times in the founding affidavit, including 10 official recordals and seven references drawn from two published books. Mabandla was referenced six times, five in her professional capacity and once over a missed response to a memorandum.
The commission is expected to scrutinise the conduct of senior officials and political figures between 1998 and 2017, a period during which dozens of TRC-referred cases remained dormant, despite clear evidence of gross human rights violations and recommendations for prosecution.
