Cradock Four inquest resumes after decades of silence

MORE than 39 years after the murder of the Cradock Four and decades of unanswered questions, the third inquest into the deaths of the Cradock Four officially got under way in the Gqeberha High Court in the Eastern Cape yesterday.

- SIYABONGA SITHOLE

The families of Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli are hoping this renewed legal process will finally bring closure and accountability for the brutal killings of the four anti-apartheid activists who were tortured in 1985.

The families' legal representative, Howard Varney, said the death of the four young men was meticulously planned by the apartheid security branch.

"According to autopsy reports, Mhlauli died from stab wounds; Calata died from stabbing in the heart; Mkhonto died from a gunshot wound to the head and (was) stabbed in the heart. Mhlauli's body was found with a missing hand.

"It is quite apparent that before death, the four were brutally tortured and mutilated.