Johannesburg, South Africa – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Cases Inquiry has heard chilling testimony detailing the final moments before the assassination of anti-apartheid activist Joe Nzingo Gqabi, shedding renewed light on one of apartheid’s cross-border killings.
Testifying from Australia, Shadrack Ganda, a close associate of Gqabi, revisited the events of July 31, 1981, when Gqabi was gunned down in Harare, Zimbabwe. Ganda described how repeated threats against Gqabi’s life had already forced security precautions, including the decision that he should no longer sleep at his own residence.
Joe Nzingo Gqabi was born in 1929 in Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape. He joined the African National Congress in 1952 and later became a member of the underground Communist Party. He also worked for the Johannesburg-based newspaper The New Age as both a photographer and reporter, building a reputation for exposing apartheid-era injustices.
Following the PAC-led Sharpeville Massacre in 1960 and the subsequent State of Emergency, Gqabi was among approximately 2,000 political detainees. He was later incarcerated on Robben Island. His activism and influence among youth and student movements, both inside and outside South Africa, made him a target, according to testimony before the commission.
Ganda told the inquiry that on the day of the assassination, concerns about security forced them to shorten a planned meeting with activists who were travelling back to South Africa. His vehicle was parked behind Gqabi’s. After reversing out and leaving, Ganda said Gqabi returned to his own vehicle. As Gqabi was reversing, he was attacked.
“The attackers would have been more than six,” Ganda testified, describing the ambush. He further stated that the government of Rhodesia had refused to arm them, despite the ongoing threats. According to the testimony, there had been multiple previous attempts on Gqabi’s life.
Gqabi was killed shortly after being instructed to leave the country in 1981. He was later given a state funeral by the Zimbabwean government.
During his testimony, Ganda also criticised the democratic South African government, alleging that more than three decades into democracy and 44 years after the assassination, there has been insufficient urgency in investigating the full circumstances surrounding Gqabi’s death. He said efforts to pursue the matter through the South African embassy were referred to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, after which the issue stalled.
Ganda further noted that Gqabi had been close to former president Thabo Mbeki, and questioned why no approach had been made to him or his foundation to seek further insight into the events leading to the killing.
The inquiry continues as the commission revisits unresolved cases linked to apartheid-era political violence.
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