Zuma, Mbeki: Khampepe’s NPA and TRC roles disqualify her from stalled apartheid cases inquiry

Simon Nare

Former presidents Jacob Zuma and Thabo Mbeki say retired judge Sisi Khampepe is unsuitable to chair the inquiry into allegedly stalled apartheid-era prosecutions because of her past roles in institutions that are now under scrutiny, which could influence her impartiality.

President Cyril Ramaphosa established the commission last year after the government was taken to court by a coalition of 25 families — known as the Calata Group — to explain why many TRC cases were never properly investigated or prosecuted.

The group is named after applicant Lukhanyo Calata, whose father, Fort Calata, was one of the Cradock Four — anti-apartheid activists who were abducted and murdered by apartheid security forces in 1985.

Oral arguments in the matter have been set down for Friday.

In their heads of argument, the former presidents argue that Khampepe’s institutional involvement in matters which are claimed to be directly connected to the Truth