More than 30 witnesses testified over five weeks at the Special Tribunal in East London.
The judgment in the inquest into the 1993 Highgate Hotel massacre is expected to be handed down in December 2025.
The matter drew to a close on Thursday after more than 30 witnesses testified over five weeks at the Special Tribunal in East London.
The massacre is one of the cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for further investigation and potential prosecution.
Witnesses
The witness, including Hawks investigators, survivors, families of the deceased, ballistic experts, former police officers, Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) commanders, private investigators, and a senior prosecutor.
Judge Denzil Potgieter is expected to deliver his findings in the East London Special Tribunal on 1 December 2025.
The court also conducted an inspection in loco at the scene of the incident.
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Frustration
This week, the tribunal heard how the case was mishandled, neglected, and marred by police interference and how both the police and the Scorpions refused to provide investigators forTRC cases.
Former NPA spokesperson and state advocate Mthunzi Mhaga testified that efforts to investigate TRC priority crimes, including the Highgate massacre, were frustrated for years because neither the Scorpions nor the police would provide investigators.
The inquest follows the Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Barry Madolo’s decision to determine whether anyone could be held criminally liable for the attack.
Massacre
On the night of the massacre, during the tense period leading up to the 1994 democratic elections, armed assailants opened fire at the Highgate Hotel’s bars in East London. Five people, Stanley Hacking, Douglas William Gates, Royce Michael Wheeler, Deon Wayne Harris, and Deric John Whitfield, were killed, and seven others were seriously wounded, suffering permanent injuries and disabilities.
Three survivors and two family members of victims testified during the TRC hearings. No amnesty applications were made by suspected perpetrators.
Apla
While the attack was initially attributed to the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), subsequent investigations could not confirm this.
A phone call made before the attack was credited to a man named Carl Zimbiri of the Internal High Command of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla), yet this was never proven.
APLA director of operations, Letlapa Mphahlele, denied knowledge of involvement in the attack.
After the attack, three survivors and two family members of the victims gave their testimonies at the TRC hearings.
Closure
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said they hope the inquisitorial process’s findings will provide the much-needed closure to the victims’ families, survivors, and the broader public.
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