Mbeki seeks answers over 300 abandoned apartheid cases
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Maravipost
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki is calling on the National Prosecuting Authority to account for dropping more than 300 apartheid-related cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Testifying at the inquiry into the cases in Johannesburg on 19 October 2026, he called for it to establish whether prosecutors failed in their duties or faced pressure, according to SABC News.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has called for prosecutors to be held accountable for dropping more than 300 apartheid-related cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), SABC News reports. He testified on 19 October 2026 before the inquiry into the cases in Newtown, Johannesburg.
Mbeki called on the inquiry to establish why prosecutions were not brought, whether prosecutors failed in their duties or whether interventions obstructed their work. The cases concern former apartheid agents who were denied amnesty by the TRC’s amnesty committee.
He rejected accusations that his government had politically interfered in prosecutions, including in the case of the Cradock Four, four anti-apartheid activists killed in 1985. His response came after Lukhanyo Calata, son of Fort Calata, one of the victims, accused him of disrespect in a statement published in March 2024.
The inquiry must also establish whether South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority, which inherited prosecutors who had served under apartheid, was compromised. Mbeki called for any potentially responsible individuals to be identified, along with the reasons they were not held to account. On 20 October, he had already denied interfering in post-apartheid justice, and on 19 October denied secret meetings with apartheid generals.
Summary produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools, under AFREEQUE’s editorial responsibility.
