The Hawks are probing why crucial evidence from a 1992 massacres was being stored in an unlocked office in Hillcrest.
|||Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal Hawks are probing why a trunk containing crucial evidence from one of South Africa’s worst massacres was being stored in an unlocked office in Hillcrest, and not with the police.
The office is used by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which is not part of the police, but an independent statutory body that mostly investigates public sector corruption.
On July 29, a team from the Hawks was dispatched to the Hillcrest office and they removed a blue trunk containing various exhibits, including the bullets taken from some of the victims and original affidavits from survivors, relating to the Bisho (now Bhisho) massacre in Eastern Cape 21 years ago.
According to a source, the trunk was being kept by a unit manager, a former policemen who was part of the team of detectives who investigated the September 7, 1992, massacre.
Hawks spokesman, Captain Paul Ramaloko, said detectives seized the trunk, which was now being stored in the evidence room of a police station.
While no charges had been brought against the SIU manager for being in possession of state evidence, Ramaloko said investigators had not ruled this out.
“We made an appointment to see the individual concerned and after meeting him, we took the evidence away with us,” he said.
“A case was initially opened, but it has since been closed. The individual who had the trunk used to work on that case. We are still looking at why it was being kept there.”
Ramaloko said it was against the law to keep state evidence.
“For now we are saying the case is closed, but we are not ruling out the possibility of bringing charges. That evidence should have been in a cop shop and it wasn’t,” he said.
The trunk was found after an SIU staff member tipped off the unit’s internal integrity department.
It was not known how long the evidence had been stored there.
The trunk, which contained police dockets, original witness statements, spent shell casings, spent bullets, crime scene photographs and other crucial evidence, was found in an unlocked office.
“The concern here is that this is vital evidence in one of the worst massacres in South Africa’s history that was just lying in an office,” a source said on Wednesday.
“People are not allowed to have state evidence in their possession and as a former policeman he should know this. What if they needed to re-open the case? Had they tried they would have failed because nobody would know that it was sitting in an office in Hillcrest,” the source said.
Approached for comment on Wednesday, the SIU manager said he was aware of the Hawks’ visit to the offices, but said he was not allowed to speak to the media.
He referred all enquiries to SIU spokesman, Boy Ndala, who said: “We are still trying to work a response for you. Unfortunately, I have another urgent engagement to attend, which may take long. You will most likely get a response tomorrow.”
Thirty people died in the massacre when members of the Ciskei Defence Force fired on a breakaway band of protesters who were part of an 80 000-strong group of ANC supporters marching on the town to demand the resignation of then-military ruler, Oupa Gqozo.
In 2001, charges were brought against former Lieutenant-Colonel Vakele Archibald Mkosana and former rifleman, Mzamile Thomas Gonya, whose application for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was rejected on the grounds that their actions were not associated with a political objective.
They were the only two who had applied for amnesty.
Neither the soldiers who did the shooting, nor the Ciskei Defence Force commanders, faced any charges.
However, Mkosana was charged because he ordered the troops to open fire, while Gonya was charged for firing a grenade launcher at the crowd.
They each faced one count of murder, relating to the death of ANC supporter, Thobani Gola, while Mkosana faced an additional 28 counts of culpable homicide.
In 2002, the men were acquitted on all charges.
The court supported Mkosana’s version that he had not issued a general order to open fire and said he could not have expected the soldiers to be so undisciplined as to shoot without an order.
Gonya had admitted firing grenades, but the court found there was not enough evidence to link this to Gola’s death.
lee.rondganger@inl.co.za
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