/ 17 February 1999

AMNESTY CONFLICT

A FORMER Umkhonto we Sizwe commander told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s amnesty committee in Johannesburg on Tuesday that he ordered the killing of student activist Sicelo Dlomo in 1988 because he suspected him of being a police informer. John Itumeleng Dube (37) a former commander of MK, the military wing of the African National Congress, is applying for amnesty for the murder of Dlomo in Soweto in January 1988. Dube began to suspect Dlomo of being a police informer after a speedy release after an arrest for possessing a firearm. Tony Richard, appearing for the deceased’s family asked Dube questions about his own role as a police agent, which Dube had trouble answering. Richard suggested that Dube had Dlomo killed to prevent the youth revealing Dube’s police involvement.