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Memorial for the Cradock 4.
Head of Legal Services in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been subpoenaed to appear in the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday, over the military’s refusal to fund legal representation for former Lieutenant General Joffel van der Westhuizen.
This, as the the third inquest into the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four, Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, resumed in the Gqeberha High Court between 2 to 11 June 2025.
This phase included only the testimonies of the victims’ families and their witnesses.
Van der Westhuizen, now 83, is a key figure in the reopened inquest into the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four.
The court seeks answers as delays threaten to derail long-awaited testimony from former apartheid officials.
Last week, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that the South African Police Service must provide legal support to convicted former Police Colonel Eugene de Kock for his role as a witness in the Cradock Four inquest.
He is expected to testify in the second sitting of the reopened inquest into the deaths of the Cradock Four.
De Kock was convicted in 1996 for multiple murders and granted partial amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after confessing to his role in helping dispose of the murder weapon linked to the Cradock Four killings.
His testimony is seen as potentially significant in uncovering the full chain of command and operational details behind the 1985 killings.
Proceedings are set to resume in October.
