The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) officials told Parliament on Friday that the agency has already identified most of the families of the Apartheid era victims and will be meeting the Cradock four families next week.
Head of prosecutions in the Eastern Cape advocate Barry Madolo told MPs on Friday that he has been in contact with the Cradock four families, and will be having another meeting next week.
“I want to confirm that the team including myself met with the Cradock Four families on 4th of November. The assertion that we have not met must have been before. We briefed the family, raised a lot of issues and explained reasons for delays, obstacles and how we will overcome them,” Adv Madolo said.
He said the team will be meeting the families again next week Monday or Tuesday. It will be an ongoing engagement until a decision is made.
“What we decided to do was to take the family into our confidence, work with them throughout this process, ” Madolo added.
Despite repeated assurance to Parliament by the National Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Shamila Batohi that a decision will soon be taken regarding the case, Madolo’s briefing confirmed that a decision has not been taken yet.
Madolo said that the NPA would continue engaging with the families until it reached a final decision on the matter.
NPA deputy director of public prosecutions Rodney de Kock led a team that briefed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on Friday.
Members of Parliament wanted to know why it was taking so long for the NPA to conclude the cases.
De Kock said there are currently 129 TRC related cases, he said they reviewed all cases including those where prosecutors have already decided to close them.
“There is a commitment from the prosecution to deal with the TRC matters and ensure that all cases are taken very seriously. I am personally responsible for this unit,” he told the committee.
He said the NPA teams were meeting monthly to deal with TRC matters, and assured members that the agency has experts to assist in reconstructing the scenes in cases where the evidence was destroyed.
The work was continuing without any political or external interference, he added.
NPA told Parliament that most families of the Apartheid era victims have been identified.
Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, known as the Cradock Four, were brutally murdered in 1985 by the apartheid police.
-Inside Politics
