Nokuthula Simelane’s family left devastated by delays in case

Thembi Simelane, Minister of Human Settlements and sister to the slain Umkhonto weSizwe cadre, Nokuthula Simelane, has painted a sad picture of how the delay of the trial of her alleged killers has devastated the family and left them with the pain of having no closure.

The start of the criminal trial has been delayed due to claims that one of the accused, Willem Helm Johannes Coetzee, was unfit to stand trial. In a trial within a trial, an inquiry into Coetzee’s fitness to stand trial finally resumed on Monday and is expected to conclude on Wednesday in the Pretoria High Court. 

Nokuthula Simelane murder

Nokuthula was abducted, tortured, and then disappeared at the hands of the notorious apartheid police Security Branch in 1983. The family’s long wait has prolonged its pain, as they wait to hear from the killers what happened and where Nokuthula’s remains are.

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Just before she boarded a flight to Cape Town, Thembi Simelane spoke to The Citizen about how the family still grieves Nokuthula. She said the delay has taken a toll on the family, especially their elderly mother.

“We hope for the speedy finalisation of the trial, the delay has taken its toll on us all. We’re just hopeful that they will arrive at some form of justice for our sister.

She said that the family would like to see the trial fast-tracked, considering the years the matter had been delayed within the justice system.

Perhaps, she said, the start of the actual murder trial, possibly this year or next year, would reveal where Nokuthula’s body was buried, which would partly give them some closure. Asked how the delays had affected the family, Simelane replied: “Badly, negatively. Emotionally, psychologically and financially.”

Trial marred by a series of delays

The Simelane family’s pursuit of truth and accountability has been marred by a series of delays since the NPA formally indicted the four men on 14 March 2016. In the early years, the trial was delayed because the police refused to cover the accused’s legal costs, prompting a successful court challenge by the family, which compelled the Saps to pay the legal costs of the accused as the institutional successor to the apartheid-era police.

In June 2022, Coetzee’s legal team claimed that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. They based their argument on a two-page preliminary medical report submitted less than 24 hours before the scheduled start of the trial on 6 June 2022. However, an independent panel of three psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist, appointed in terms of section 79 of the Criminal Procedure Act, found Coetzee fit to stand trial in November 2022.

Coetzee and his legal team challenged the panel’s findings, in what the Foundation for Human Rights saw as “orchestrated attempts to delay the finalisation of the inquiry in the preceding 29 months”.

Coetzee and former colleague, Anton Pretorius, were among the remaining Security Branch officers implicated in Nokuthula Simelane’s disappearance. Two other accused, Msebenzi Radebe and Frederick Mong, died in 2019 and 2021 respectively, without ever being brought to trial.

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The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR), which has been central in ensuring the matter came to court, said the inquiry’s running for more than 16 months, contributed to a broader pattern of delay in a case where justice has remained elusive for more than four decades.  

“These sustained delays have taken an immeasurable toll on Nokuthula Simelane’s family, particularly her elderly mother, Sizakele Simelane, who continues to await justice for her daughter, last seen in 1983. The Simelane family and FHR remain committed to ensuring justice is served and call on all parties to proceed with the trial as a matter of urgency, without further delay,” the social justice NGO said.