NPA TO OPEN INQUEST INTO THE 1993 KILLING OF FIVE CHILDREN BY SADF IN MTHATHA

08 September 2025

NPA TO OPEN INQUEST INTO THE 1993 KILLING OF FIVE CHILDREN BY SADF IN MTHATHA

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development has approved the National Director of Public Prosecutions’ request for the holding of a joint inquest into the deaths of five youngsters killed by the Apartheid regime’s South African Defence Force (SADF) during an attack at the home of a Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) member.

On 08 October 1993, Mzwandile Mfeya and Sandiso Yaso, both twelve years of age, sixteen-year-old twins Samora and Sadat Mpendulo, as well as seventeen-year-old Thando Mthembu, were brutally murdered in house number 47, AC Jordan Street, in the Northcrest suburb of Mthatha. The victims were students preparing for their final examinations.

The house belonged to the father of the twins, Sigqibo Mpendulo, who was a PAC activist. The attackers are believed to have been targeting the erstwhile PAC military wing, Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) cadres who were allegedly hiding an arms cache at the house. The door was kicked open, and the soldiers opened fire on the occupants of the house, killing all of them. On the same day, SADF issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The raid occurred after some APLA members were arrested and tortured by the South African Police Security Branch, which ordered them to give information regarding APLA activities.

During the inquest, which will sit in the Mthatha High Court on a date still to be determined by the judge president, the State will provide evidence of numerous witnesses, including the relatives of the deceased. The main goal is to lay before the court evidence that will enable the court to make a finding in terms of section of the Inquest Act, whether the death of the deceased can be attributed to anyone to be subsequently held criminally liable.

The NPA and its partners will continue their efforts to address the atrocities of the past and assist in providing closure to the families of the victims of these crimes and the society at large.

Issued by:

Luxolo Tyali

NPA Regional Spokesperson

Eastern Cape Division

Tel: 047 501 2630

Cell: 073 555 9292

Email: ltyali@npa.gov.za