Cosas 4 case postponed to January, families disappointed
The friends and family of the slain group of student activists from the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) said they were disappointed at yet another postponement.
The matter against two men, Ephraim Mfalapitsa and Christiaan Rorich, who have confessed to the 1982 killing of three students was remanded to 23 October in the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday.
Eustice ‘Bimbo’ Madikela, Peter “Ntshingo” Matabane, Fanyana Nhlapo, and Zandisile Musi became known as the Cosas 4.
The case was postponed to allow the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) to file papers to be admitted as amicus curiae.
Most of the family members were reluctant to speak to the media.
Russel Baloyi, who had been attending proceedings since the matter was enrolled, said most felt let down because they were hopeful that the trial would finally begin.
READ: Historic 'Cosas 4' trial set to start on Monday
“As you can see, the families here are very devastated because their coming here is not just about the time or them. It’s also about their own family members who died waiting for justice to be served.”
He said they believed the state was delaying closure for the families: “It’s very unfortunate that of everything that you can think of, this is one government that the people that we are talking about here were in the struggle to see to it that we have a democratic state.
“It’s so unfortunate that the very same democratic state that’s supposed to be protecting their interests and seeing to it that justice is done – for some reason – is dragging its feet in this matter,” Baloyi added.
But the National Prosecuting Authority’s Phindi Mjonondwane said the state was ready to proceed with the matter, adding that the delay was to allow the court to heat SALC’s application.
“Once the court has entertained the application and made its ruling, the matter will then be postponed to 22 January 2024 for the trial to resume. We were ready to proceed as the state, we even had our witnesses ready to come and testify, but the court now has to deal with this application before we can start.”
Mfalapitsa and Rorich applied for amnesty before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in May 1999.
However, the TRC denied them amnesty because it said there was no evidence the perpetrators were stopping a political act or were forced by the apartheid regime to kill the students.
The two face charges of kidnapping and murder for the 1982 killing of Madikela, Matabane, and Nhlapo in a gas explosion at a Krugersdorp mine. They also face a charge of attempted murder after Musi survived the attack but was left with serious injuries.
Mfalapitsa and Rorich were told they do not have to be in court for the October proceedings. However, the former security branch officers were warned to return to court on 22 January 2022, for the resumption of the trial.
