NPA TO OPEN INQUEST INTO THE DEATHS OF THE PEBCO THREE

11 July 2025

NPA TO OPEN INQUEST INTO THE DEATHS OF THE PEBCO THREE

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 Messrs. Sipho Samuel Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi and Twasile Champion Galela, known as the PEBCO Three, to be held at the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court, Gqeberha. The NDPP’s request was based on the recommendations of the Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Barry Madolo.

Hashe, Godolozi and Galela were leaders of the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO), which was affiliated to the United Democratic Front (UDF). At the height of civil resistance against the Apartheid government and its deadliest reign in the Eastern Cape, the three left their homes on 08 May 1985 to meet a prospective donor at the Hendrik Verwoerd Airport (now named Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport), never to be seen again.

Their fate remained unknown until November 1997. During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, former Security Branch (SB) policeman Colonel Gideon Niewoudt applied for amnesty. During his testimony, he confessed to participating in the abduction, robbery, and murder of the PEBCO Three. He further revealed that he paid a police informant to pose as a British embassy official to lure the three deceased to a meeting that was to discuss a potential donation to PEBCO. When they arrived at the airport, they were abducted by members of the SB and taken to an abandoned police station near Cradock (now Nxuba), Post Chalmers, where they were interrogated, stripped, beaten, repeatedly suffocated, drugged, strangled, and burnt on a diesel-soaked pyre whilst their killers enjoyed braaied meat nearby. Some of the remains of the deceased were thrown into the nearby Fish River.

Ten more members of the SB, including askaris, applied for amnesty for the deaths of the PEBCO Three. Amnesty was only granted to two applicants for conspiracy to commit murder, abduction, and assault. Both are deceased. Niewoudt, Johannes Martin “Sakkie” Van Zyl and Johannes Koole were indicted in the Gqeberha High Court after the TRC hearings. Due to interlocutory applications and the subsequent deaths of the three accused, the matter could not proceed.

No formal inquest was held into the deaths of the PEBCO Three. It is therefore imperative that all the facts and evidence be properly ventilated before an Inquest Court for the court to make any appropriate findings.

The NPA and its partners will continue its efforts of addressing the atrocities of the past and assist in providing closure to the families of the victims of these crimes.

Issued by:

Luxolo Tyali
NPA Regional Spokesperson
Eastern Cape Division
Tel: 047 501 2630
Cell: 073 555 9292
Email: ltyali@npa.gov.za