Mayor wants to know the truth
In a bid to get closure, the Polokwane mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng has applied to the North Gauteng high court for a formal inquest into the disappearance of her sister, Nokuthula Simelane.
POLOKWANE – In a bid to get closure, the Polokwane mayor, Thembi Nkadimeng has applied to the North Gauteng high court for a formal inquest into the disappearance of her sister, Nokuthula Simelane.
Two years ago, the National Prosecuting Authority turned down a request by the family to launch an inquest into Simelane’s disappearance.
An Umkhontho we Sizwe courier in the 1980’s, Simelane was 23 years old when she was abducted at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg in September 1983.
According to evidence before the then Truth and Reconcilliation Commission, she was taken to a farm in the North West, where she was allegedly tortured.
Eight members attached to the Soweto security branch, of whom five were successful, applied and received amnesty for Simelane’s detention and torture.
However, none of the perpetrators applied for amnesty for her murder.
Despite repeated requests submitted by the family to the authorities, no decision has been taken to refer her case to an inquest.
Neither has a decision been made whether to prosecute the perpetrators who did not apply for amnesty for murder or kidnapping.Nkadimeng could not be reached for comment, but during an interview with a local radio station last Tuesday, she confirmed that she applied for the inquest to get closure for the family, as the perpetrators had not told the truth during the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission proceedings.
She said it was not a personal attack on the government. It was an attempt from the victims’ family, trying to find closure and them being able to start the grieving process.
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