Police to pay defence of apartheid-era accused

A JUDGMENT by the Gauteng High Court compelling the police to pay the legal costs of former security policemen accused of murdering MK courier Nokuthula Simelane in 1983 establishes an important principle‚ says a group campaigning for the prosecution of apartheid-era human rights violations.

The Foundation for Human Rights says the judgment confirms the accused were not on a private frolic but were part of the apartheid state’s machinery.

Simelane was 23 when she disappeared in Johannesburg while on a mission for Umkhonto weSizwe‚ the armed wing of the ANC.

She was allegedly abducted and tortured by the Security Branch of the former South African Police. Simelane was never seen again. A statue in her honour has since been erected in Bethal‚ Mpumalanga.

In 2016‚ a prosecution was brought against Willem Coetzee‚ Anton Pretorius‚ Frederick Mong and Msebenzi Radebe‚ formerly of the Soweto Special Branch‚ for their alleged role in her murder.

The case was delayed when they asked for the police to pay their legal costs.

This week‚ Judge Cynthia Pretorius found it would be in the public interest for the trial of the three former policemen to commence as soon as possible, and for the applicants to have proper legal representation.

She ordered that the decision of the South African Police Service not to pay the costs be set aside; that the three accused were entitled to payment of their legal costs by the SAPS; and that the minister of police and the provincial commissioner of police in Gauteng were jointly and severally liable for the costs of the application.