‘We were betrayed’: families of apartheid victims sue South African government

4WardEverUK • 31 January 2025

source: The Guardian

published: 23 January 2025

Image Credit: artur84 at www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net


Lukhanyo Calata’s first memory of his father was the funeral. His mother sobbing, the earth beneath his feet shaking from the number of people gathered at the graveside, and the fear he felt aged three as the red box holding his father, Fort, was lowered into the ground.


Fort Calata was one of four men stopped at a roadblock in June 1985 by security officers. The Cradock Four were beaten, strangled with telephone wire, stabbed and shot to death in one of the most notorious killings of South Africa’s apartheid era.

In 1999, the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) denied six security officers amnesty for their role in the killings. They were never prosecuted and have all since died.


Now, as part of a group of 25 families and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence, Lukhanyo Calata is suing South Africa’s government for failing to bring his father’s alleged killers to court.

“Losing my father has impacted every fibre of my being,” Calata said. “We were ultimately betrayed by the people that we trusted to lead us into a new society.”


Calata’s case, filed at the high court in Pretoria this week, demands an inquiry to establish why there were no prosecutions. It also asks for 'constitutional damages' of 167m rand (£7.3m) to fund further investigations, litigation, memorials and public education.


Read full article >

share this article on social media

Black Lives Matter protest
by 4WardEverUK 31 March 2025
From the US to the Democratic Republic of Congo, women and girls’ rights have suffered serious setbacks. Despite the challenges, there also have been improvements and victories.
Hillsborough disaster campaigners
by 4WardEverUK 29 March 2025
On the anniversary of the 1989 disaster [2024] we remembered those who died, through their families’ personal statements about them, as reported by David Conn from the BBC.
Football stadium
by 4WardEverUK 28 March 2025
The promised new Hillsborough Law appears to be in chaos after a meeting between PM Sir Keir Starmer and the families of those unlawfully killed in the 1989 disaster was cancelled.
Brian Haw in attendance @ UFFC rally
by 4WardEverUK 27 March 2025
A statue of peace campaigner Brian Haw has been unveiled in London. Mr Haw camped out in Parliament Square for nearly 10 years to protest against UK and US foreign policy.
Dark prison cell
by 4WardEverUK 26 March 2025
Four more prisoners serving Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences have taken their own lives, taking the total to 94. Another 37 released IPPs took their own lives up to April 2024.
The People’s Tribunal banner
by 4WardEverUK 15 March 2025
With more than 2000 deaths at the hands of the police over the past 50 years there have only been four successful prosecutions that led to officers being convicted and going to prison.
More Articles
Share by: