South Africa: Judge Orders Department of Defence to Explain Ongoing 'Secrecy' of Cradock Four Documentation
A South African judge has ordered the Department of Defence to explain why key documents about the 1985 murders of the Cradock Four are still being kept from public view. The case centers on former acting Secretary of Defence Dr Thobekile Gamede, who now faces contempt charges for failing to declassify the records connected to one of apartheid South Africa's most painful chapters.
The Cradock Four, a group of anti-apartheid activists, were killed in 1985 in what became one of the most notorious crimes of the apartheid era. Decades later, the families and the public are still waiting for full answers, and the continued secrecy around these documents has only deepened that wound.
The contempt charges against Dr Gamede signal that the court is no longer willing to allow the Department of Defence to stall. Whether those long-sealed files will finally see the light of day is the question every South African following this case is asking right now.
Originally published by AllAfrica.