Police Minister Bheki Cele. Pictures: Oupa Mokoena/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has issued an order dismissing Police Minister Bheki Cele’s application for leave to appeal against last year’s judgment directing the SAPS to pay the legal fees of former police officers charged in the apartheid-era case of the Cosas 4.
Presiding in the murder case against Thlomedi Mfalapitsa and Christiaan Rorich, Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng also dismissed the minister’s request for a pardon for the late filing of the application.
Mfalapitsa and Rorich were also charged with kidnapping and murder in August 2021, and charges of crimes against humanity were added in November 2021.
The Cosas 4, so called because they were members of the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), an organisation affiliated with the then-banned ANC, were Eustice “Bimbo” Madikela, Itumeleng Matabane (also known as Ntshingo), Fanyana Nhlapo, and Zandisile Musi, who didn’t die but was seriously injured.
Last week, Judge Mokgoatlheng said: “The full judgment with the reasons for the order will be delivered by January 31.”
Meanwhile, the case was adjourned to Tuesday April 25 for a pre-trial hearing, after which it will be set down for trial.
There have been several delays to the trial, as a result of the refusal by the police to pay the legal fees for Rorich.
However, as a result of the high court order, the police, who have until now said Rorich’s alleged part in the 1982 assassination did not fall under the normal duties of a police officer, must now pay Rorich’s legal costs.
Rorich’s attorney is now in a position to execute against the order.
However, the state attorney has indicated that he has instructions from the police minister to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal and if necessary the Constitutional Court.
The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) said in a statement afterwards: “This course of action, which will take years to complete, may result in the collapse of the trial, given the advanced ages of the accused, and will undermine the cause of justice.”
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za