Inside Politics Reporter
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Northern Cape will reopen the inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist Booi Mantyi, who was shot dead by police in 1985, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday.
The matter will be enrolled for case management in the High Court of South Africa, Northern Cape Division, sitting in Kimberley, on Tuesday.
A date will then be set for the hearing of the inquest, which is scheduled to take place in De Aar.
The reopening follows the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development’s approval of a request by the National Director of Public Prosecutions, which was supported by the legal representatives of the Mantyi family.
Mantyi, President of the De Aar Residents’ Association, was fatally shot on 16 June 1985 during events commemorating the Soweto uprising of 16 June 1976 in De Aar, Northern Cape.
At the time, it was alleged that he had been part of a group rioting and pelting the police with stones and that the police acted in self-defence.
According to the original record, the South African Police used a shotgun and live ammunition to shoot Mantyi.
The cause of death was recorded as multiple invasive wounds penetrating the heart and lungs, and internal bleeding.
An inquest held in 1985 relied mainly on the testimony of members of the South African Police, who said they had acted in self-defence.
Magistrate JLK Von Reiche accepted their version and found that no one could be held responsible for Mantyi’s death.
Prosecutors say the main goal of reopening the inquest is to place new evidence before the court to enable it to make a finding in terms of section 16(2)(d) of the Inquest Act 58 of 1959 as to whether the death was brought about by any act or omission which prima facie involves or amounts to an offence on the part of any person.
The NPA said it, together with its partners, “reaffirms its commitment to confronting the injustices of the past and to contributing towards healing and closure for the Mantyi family, other bereaved families, victims of past violations, and society at large”.
INSIDE POLITICS