After a series of about-turns, the justice ministry on Thursday afternoon abandoned its attempt to embargo the news that former security police officer Gideon Nieuwoudt has been refused amnesty.
The ruling, by a specially appointed panel, was earlier confirmed to the South African Press Association (Sapa) by Nieuwoudt’s lawyer Jan Wagener, who said he was told by a Department of Justice and Constitutional Development official on Wednesday night.
Nieuwoudt, who died of cancer in August, applied for amnesty for his role in the 1989 car-bomb killing of three black security police officers and an askari at Motherwell, on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth.
He was refused first time around, but the Cape High Court ordered a fresh hearing, which was conducted last year by a panel consisting of judges Ronnie Pillay and John Motata, and advocate Francis Bosman.
The panel forwarded its findings to the justice ministry earlier this year, but though it was widely reported in the media months ago that Nieuwoudt’s application had been refused, there has up to now been no official announcement.
In an unembargoed statement on Wednesday night, the ministry confirmed that Nieuwoudt had been turned down, but then, after Sapa had issued the story, announced it was embargoed for 10am on Thursday.
After the expiry of the 10am embargo, a ministry spokesperson declared that the embargo had again changed ”as it is uncertain when the Minister [Brigitte Mabandla] will be releasing the report”.
On Thursday afternoon, however, he told Sapa that in view of the fact that many media were already running the story, the ministry was no longer seeking to enforce an embargo.
”We have made the announcement that Nieuwoudt was not granted amnesty and that [Marthinus] Ras and [Wahl] du Toit were granted amnesty,” he said.
Asked about the reason for the changes of mind, he said: ”There was a delay in completing the formalities that have to precede the release … The minister had to apply her mind to that report and consult, and she has now decided to release it.”
Wagener said a department official informed him by phone on Wednesday that two of the three members of the panel denied amnesty to Nieuwoudt but granted it to co-applicants Du Toit and Ras.
The third panel member, in a minority decision, found that all three should get amnesty.
Wagener said the reason for the ruling against Nieuwoudt was apparently that he failed to make full disclosure of the relevant facts.
”I’m extremely disappointed,” he said. ”I think it’s a wrong judgement. This is the same mistake that the first amnesty hearing made. They also ruled that Nieuwoudt failed to make full disclosure of the relevant facts.”
Even though advocate Kessie Naidu, who appeared for the families of the dead men in the hearing, had made much of this claim, no one had ever said what Nieuwoudt was not disclosing.
”We kept on saying, ‘What facts did he not disclose?’ He gave a consistent version through all the hearings over 10 years,” Wagener said.
”I think it’s judges who were merely unable to withstand the temptation to bring out a politically popular judgement.”
He said that had Nieuwoudt still been alive, the decision would have been taken on review ”and I’m sure we would have won again”.
Wagener said he is very pleased that Du Toit, for whom he also acted, received amnesty.
”It was a very, very long, drawn-out battle to get his amnesty. This should have been given to him six years ago,” he said. ”I really hope the community will allow him to get on with a normal life now.”
Wagener said the families of the dead men could theoretically take the amnesty decisions on Dut Toit and Ras on review, so he will not withdraw the criminal appeal lodged on behalf of his client until the statutory six months allowed for lodging the review bid have elapsed.
He said there was no legal basis for withholding the panel’s decision once it had been made, and said the current flurry could have been provoked by his recent threat to bring a court application.
The victims of the Motherwell bombing were Warrant Officer Glen Mgoduka, Sergeant Amos Faku, Sergeant Desmond Mpipa and askari Xolile Sheperd Sakati.
Nieuwoudt, Du Toit and Ras were sentenced in 1996 to 20, 15 and 10 years’ imprisonment respectively for their roles in the killing.
Nieuwoudt was denied amnesty in 1999 for his role in the death of black consciousness leader Steve Biko, but had not been prosecuted for it.
He was also facing murder charges for the 1985 deaths of the anti-apartheid activists known as the Pebco Three, for which he had been denied amnesty. — Sapa