Durban - The family of one of the most prominent Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) combatants who died at the hands of the Eugene De Kock led Vlakplaas apartheid hit squad, wants the ANC to setup a commission of inquiry unearth the truth.
KwaMashu-born Makhosi Nyoka was killed in an ambush in Mkhondo (Piet Retief) in 1988. They feel that while De Kock was eventually named as the killer, some senior people within the ANC, have to account for her death.
Nyoka’s sister, Neli, speaking on the sidelines of the second annual Makhosi Nyoka Lecture, told Independent Media on Tuesday that a fresh internal party inquiry would reveal the truth as they believe some of the information revealed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was doctored to protect certain individuals.
“We wish to see the ANC probing this matter because what was revealed at the TRC was not the full truth. Everybody there was shielding himself by pointing fingers at De Kock who was already in custody for the crimes,” said the sister.
She said the family was hurt when De Kock apologized to other families for killing their relatives, but he never apologised to the Nyoka family. She said the family still bore the scars of the brutality inflicted on Nyoka.
Neli Nyoka alleged that De Kock used to instruct members of his squad to harass her family, including her late father, by detonating teargas while they were sleeping in the house.
“The man persecuted us to the end. One of the biggest brutalities shown by the man was in June 1988 when they invaded our home to chase away mourners. Later he came with his squad to the cemetery to chase away people who attended the funeral. Some people came back injured,” she said.
One of the MK veterans who worked with Nyoka, Mandla Sikosana (known as Duma in exile) backed the call and said in the case of Nyoka, there was a 'sellout' who sold the MK team which was coming from Swaziland to carry an operation inside SA. He said this person was now a 'top figure' within the ANC.
“The truth about the death of Makhosi is clear, they were sold out… they were not sold out by an ordinary person but by a senior person who was operating from Swaziland… there was co-ordination from back in Swaziland and inside South Africa,” Sikosana said.
The latest demands for an internal party inquiry follows former president Jacob Zuma's statement at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, where he alleged that some members of the party were spies.