{"id":263548,"date":"2025-06-04T17:58:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T15:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/?p=263548"},"modified":"2025-06-04T18:05:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T16:05:50","slug":"crime-scenes-in-murder-of-cradock-four-inspected-in-gqeberha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/crime-scenes-in-murder-of-cradock-four-inspected-in-gqeberha\/","title":{"rendered":"Crime scenes in murder of Cradock Four inspected in Gqeberha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The families of the Cradock Four have been waiting for almost 40 years for justice. Despite the challenges, they still hope this inquest will finally reveal the full truth about what happened to their loved ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Monday, 2nd June 2025, a third inquest began in the High Court in Gqeberha into the Cradock Four murders, where four anti-apartheid activists from the 1980s were kidnapped and assassinated by authorities of the then government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The inquest into the deaths of the Cradock Four is being presided over by Judge Thami Beshe, who was present for all site inspections conducted yesterday in Cradock and today in Gqeberha and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The site visits in Gqeberha today were at the Coega CCA Administration entrance in Motherwell, where the vehicle of Matthew Goniwe was found, according to the then search and rescue official, Gcobani Zonke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second was the site where the body of Sicelo Mhlauli was found, in the proximity of King George&#8217;s Avenue in St George&#8217;s Strand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third site visit was in Bluewater Bay where a search and rescue official of that time, Judy Chambers, believes Matthew Goniwe was found. The precise location is unknown as there are now houses situated in the areas where the fallen heroes were last seen. The last site visit was in Redhouse, where it is alleged that Sparrow Mkonto was found by Mbulelo Goniwe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nombuyiselo Mhlauli, widow of Sicelo Mhlauli, said, &#8220;My first reaction when I heard that there will be a third inquest into the murders of the Cradock Four was, &#8216;How long will it take?&#8217; I was reluctant at first, but I was advised to give it another chance as I had nothing to lose. At least this way, I can have some sort of closure. Yes, I get information in bits and pieces, but at least I am putting the pieces of the puzzle together, which is good.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advocate for the Cradock Four families said most of the members who were in the state security police and who were believed to be involved are deceased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lonwabo Mkonto, son of Sparrow Mkonto, said, &#8220;We are hoping for the best for this third inquest into the deaths of our fathers. We hope that this third inquest will be the end of this. We really push for that, because we do not want this situation to spill over to our kids. We don&#8217;t want this to be a generational trauma; we want it to end here. We really hope that this will be the last inquest into the deaths of our fathers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Judge Beshe said that the matter will resume tomorrow, 5th June, at the Gqeberha High Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-attachment-id=\"263556\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/crime-scenes-in-murder-of-cradock-four-inspected-in-gqeberha\/img_1662\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1707\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;7.1&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 800D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1749047657&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;48&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_1662\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-263556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_1662-1320x880.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lonwabo Mkonto sharing his recollection of the story about his father, Sparrow Mkonto, and where he was allegedly found in Redhouse, Gqeberha. Photo: Shanti Jafta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The families of the Cradock Four have been waiting for almost 40 years for justice. Despite the challenges, they still hope this inquest will finally reveal the truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":263557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"69","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"30","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"Cradock Four inquest seeks truth after decades","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"Learn about the Cradock Four inquest, as families seek justice nearly 40 years after the tragic events of the 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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cradock Four inquest continues after 39 years | PE Express<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Cradock Four inquest seeks justice for families after decades; uncover the truth behind these tragic events.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peexpress\/crime-scenes-in-murder-of-cradock-four-inspected-in-gqeberha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cradock Four inquest seeks truth after decades\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about the Cradock Four inquest, as families seek justice nearly 40 years after the tragic events of the 1980s.\" 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