Ann Eveleth
THE Shobashobane massacre trial is drawing to a close, with Durban High Court Judge Hilary Squires expected on Monday to begin delivering judgement on one of the worst mass murders in KwaZulu-Natal’s 14-year civil war.
For the last two months, more than 50 witnesses have testified about the events of early Christmas Day 1995, when an impi of 2000, armed with spears, knives, firearms and sticks, attacked the tiny rural community of Shobashobane. The massacre left 18 dead and nine injured. Like the political animosities that preceded the attack, the trial has pitted father against son, in a stark demonstration of how the province’s political violence has torn families and communities apart.
Interrupted by muti scares – two witnesses refused to testify in the witness box because they said one of the accused had contaminated it with muti – followed by power failures, and confrontation between African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party supporters attending the trial, 25 survivors testified about the massacre.
State witnesses described how the heavily armed mob surrounded the largely ANC- supporting community just before breakfast and then attacked, burning houses of their political opponents and cornering them as they fled toward the local police station. Police witnesses testified that the small contingent of officers on duty that day was powerless to stop the large attacking force.
All 18 accused – including Izingolweni IFP leader Sipho Ngcobo, IFP youth leader Zuthulele Zuma, local induna Mdlezane Cele, Durban policeman Bafanyana Cele and a 14- year-old youth – have pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of murder and nine counts of attempted murder. More than 20 defence witnesses -including a local policemen – testified in support of the accused, corroborating the various alibis that placed them away from the crime scene at the time of the attack.
Delivering his closing arguments Monday morning, state prosecutor James Farrel said that state witnesses had given equally convincing testimony placing the accused at the scene. At least seven state witnesses, he said, placed Inkatha leader Ngcobo at the massacre, contradicting the testimony of both Ngcobo’s wife and his fiance, who said he was at home when he was informed of the attack.
Defence advocate Shane Matthews contended in his closing argument that mere participation in the attack was insufficient to warrant a conviction. The state, he said, must prove that each accused knew that the objectives of the attack included murder and injury.
Matthews cited Appellate Division decisions as precedents countering the state’s call for a full conviction of the 18 accused on grounds they had – through their participation in the attack – joined in a “common purpose” which included murdering and attempting to murder the residents of Shobashobane.
Matthews and fellow defence advocates Pieter van der Bergh and Piet Haasbroek – each of whom represent six accused – also questioned the evidence of several state witnesses, saying there were discrepancies between their testimony and earlier statements they had made to the police.
The defence teams also argued that witnesses influenced one another, and that some could not be counted on to identify their attackers accurately because they had been preoccupied with fleeing them. Some were hiding behind bushes in the Shongwe River. Others, the defence argued, had personal motives for their testimony.
Matthews also questioned the motive of state witness Christopher Madlala, a self- confessed participant in the attack, who testified that he was an ANC member forced at gunpoint to join the mob.
The attack shocked the government, and led to widespread demands for a shake-up of the South African Police Services on the province’s south coast, elements of which were accused of complicity in the attack. Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi appointed a special investigation unit to investigate the massacre and other political murders in the area. There was a spate of arrests for previously unsolved political murders.