Matthew Goniwe's nephew Mbulelo Goniwe testifying at the inquest on Monday, 13 October. (Photo: Deon Ferreira) 
Shortly before anti-apartheid activist Matthew Goniwe was murdered, a police officer stopped his car on the N10, pulled him out of the car by his shirt, pointed his gun at him and shouted: “One day I am going to kill you.”
This was the evidence of Matthew Goniwe’s nephew Mbulelo Goniwe on Monday at the resumption of the third inquest into the death of the Cradock Four.
The Cradock Four were anti-apartheid activists Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli, Sparrow Mkonto and Matthew Goniwe.
They were returning to Cradock from Gqeberha (then known as Port Elizabeth) on 27 June 1985 when they were arrested at a roadblock manned by members of the Security Branch, assaulted and murdered.
Advocate Howard Varney, acting for the families of the Cradock Four, said in his opening address, when the inquest started a few months ago, that the men were murdered as part of a calculated and premeditated decision taken at the highest level of the apartheid government’s state security system.
He said that despite trying everything in their “security toolbox”, the apartheid state was unable to break the defiance campaign led by the Cradock Four.
The court heard that Mbulelo Goniwe was also mentioned in a “security signal” sent by the State Security Council authorising the Cradock Four to be “permanently removed from society”.
The second inquest to determine the circumstances of the men’s death was presided over by the former Eastern Cape Judge President Neville Zietsman. Although this inquest could not identify the killers, it found that the “security signal” was a recommendation to murder, that the security forces were responsible for the deaths, and that a case of suspicion had been made against two police officers and three military officers.
The first inquest, in 1987, concluded the men had been killed by “unknown persons”. No one was prosecuted.
Eight former police and SA Defence Force officials applied for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for their roles in the Cradock Four killings. They were:
- The “masterminds”: Hermanus Barend du Plessis, Nicolaas Jacobus Janse van Rensburg and Harold Snyman.
- Three of the killers on the scene: Johan Martin “Sakkie” van Zyl, Eric Alexander Taylor and Gerhardus Johannes Lotz.
- Two others who played peripheral roles: Jacob Jan Hendrick (Jaap) van Jaarsveld and Eugene de Kock.
All but Van Jaarsveld and De Kock were denied amnesty in 1999. Yet no further legal steps were taken. De Kock is expected to give evidence at the inquest later this week.
On Monday, Mbulelo Goniwe testified that Matthew Goniwe was the younger brother of his father. They grew up together, and when Matthew, who was a teacher, took a leadership role in Cradock in defiance of the apartheid government, Mbulelo was there to help him.
“Matthew was like my father, not just my uncle,” he said. “It was a role he embraced fully. He was my role model.”
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_1289-copy.jpg "The widows of two of the Cradock Four, Nomonde Calata and Nombuyiselo Mhlauli, greeting their advocate Howard Varney at the Gqeberha High Court on Monday morning. (Photo: Deon Ferreira)")
He said that as the defiance campaign continued, Cradock became a priority for the Security Branch, and they were subjected to constant surveillance.
Once, he said, a police official, disguised as a post office technician, came to the house. “But Matthew said his complexion was too light to be a post office worker.” After that, they discovered that their home and a community hall had been bugged and that their phone calls were being tapped. Men with binoculars watched them from a hill.
“This angered me,” he said. He said it made him unsure who to trust and made him paranoid. “I could no longer trust in the humanity of people.”
He said the police would drive through Lingelihle in Cradock and tell people not to follow Matthew as “he couldn’t provide any services” to them.
“Such desperation,” said Mbulelo. “This was chilling to me because I knew something big was going to happen.”
He said that under the leadership of the Cradock Four they created structures that had credibility within the community. He said the success of the United Democratic Front and civic structures set up by these community leaders led to a successful defiance campaign in the area.
Mbulelo added that after the incident with the police officer who grabbed and threatened Matthew, he opened a case with the police.
The inquest continues on Tuesday. DM