INQUEST INTO THE DEATHS OF THE PEBCO THREE TO COMMENCE

The joint inquest into the deaths of Sipho Samuel Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi and Twasile Champion Galela, known as the PEBCO Three, is scheduled to commence at the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha on Monday, 12 October 2026.

The decision to hold the inquest follows a request by the National Director of Public Prosecutions to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, based on recommendations by the Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions.

The inquest is expected to run for five days. Witness testimony will be preceded by inspections in loco at Post Chalmers, near Cradock, and at Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport.

Hashe, Godolozi and Galela led the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO), affiliated with the United Democratic Front (UDF). During the period of intense civil resistance against apartheid in the Eastern Cape, the three left their homes on 08 May 1985 to meet a prospective donor at Hendrik Verwoerd Airport, now Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport. 

They were never seen again.

Their fate remained unknown until November 1997, when former Security Branch policeman Colonel Gideon Nieuwoudt applied for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In his testimony, he confessed to participating in the abduction, robbery and murder of the PEBCO Three.

Nieuwoudt revealed that he had paid a police informant to pose as a British Embassy official and lure the three men to a meeting to discuss a potential donation to PEBCO. When they arrived at the airport, members of the Security Branch abducted them and took them to an abandoned police station near Cradock, known as Post Chalmers.

 There, they were interrogated, stripped, beaten, repeatedly suffocated, drugged and strangled. Their bodies were burnt on a pyre soaked in diesel while their killers ate braaied meat nearby. Some of their remains were thrown into the nearby Fish River.

Ten other Security Branch members, including askaris, applied for amnesty in relation to the deaths of the PEBCO Three. Amnesty was granted to two applicants for conspiracy to commit murder, abduction and assault. Both have since died.

After the TRC hearings, the Gqeberha High Court indicted Nieuwoudt, Johannes Martin “Sakkie” Van Zyl and Johannes Koole. The matter could not proceed because of interlocutory applications and the subsequent deaths of all three accused.

No formal inquest has been held into the deaths of the PEBCO Three. It is therefore imperative that the facts and evidence be fully ventilated before an Inquest Court, which can then make any appropriate findings.

The NPA and its partners will continue their efforts to address the atrocities of the past and support the families of the victims in seeking answers and closure.

Issued by:

Luxolo Tyali

NPA Regional Spokesperson

Eastern Cape Division