THE life and times of slain Cradock apartheid activist Mathew Goniwe is set to be captured in a documentary that is expected to shed more light on his assassination by apartheid government agents 16 years ago. The bodies of the murdered Cradock school teacher and his three compatriots Sicelo Mhlawuli, Fort Calata and Sparrow Mkhonto were found near Port Elizabeth in 1985. The murder of the Cradock Four triggered off one of the bloodiest riots in the province against the National Party government. The documentary ”Nyameka’s Story” will be launched by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in Cradock on Saturday. It is a narration by Goniwe’s widow Nyameka on her husband’s life and will include an interview with the man who ordered the killings. ”There is nothing he can give me,” she said in a statement on Wednesday. ”All I am looking for is a signal of the man’s humanity. If I encounter that, I am obliged, as a vulnerable human being, to explore the possibility of reconciliation,” According to the IJR the video raises questions about nation-building, reconciliation, and forgiveness. – Sapa
Tuesday November 6, 2001