Johannesburg – AfriForum says it has submitted a formal request to the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry seeking permission for Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, to cross-examine former President Thabo Mbeki before the commission.
In a statement made available to The Bulrushes on Sunday, 18 October 2026, AfriForum said the cross-examination “would pertain to Mbeki’s alleged political interference aimed at preventing the prosecution of himself and other senior leaders for the murder of, among others, Kobie van Eck and her two young children – Nelmarie (8) and Nasie (2) – in an African National Congress (ANC) landmine attack near Musina on 15 December 1985”.
In 2007, the late Dirk van Eck formally requested AfriForum’s assistance to ensure that, should past crimes be prosecuted, the principle of equality before the law would also be applied to ANC leaders such as Mbeki.
“Mbeki – whose amnesty application was rejected – was allegedly a party to the decisions taken by the ANC at Kabwe, Zambia, in June 1985 to target innocent civilians through acts of terror, including landmine attacks,” the statement said.
“The request seeks his prosecution for his alleged complicity in the gross human rights violations that stemmed from those decisions.”
The Khampepe Commission was established after the families of the Cradock Four – much like Van Eck at the time – began exerting pressure to determine in which cases Mbeki and others had politically intervened to prevent the prosecution of those who could have been held responsible for the murders of their relatives.
The purpose of this commission is, therefore, to investigate why individuals responsible for political crimes during the apartheid era – who did not receive amnesty – were not prosecuted.
Mbeki’s testimony before the Khampepe Commission regarding his alleged role in preventing prosecutions related to Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases will be heard tomorrow, Monday, 19 October 2026, and Tuesday, 20 October.
However, the cross-examination is expected to take place at a later date.
Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, claimed: “Mbeki himself admitted in paragraph 42 of his affidavit, recently submitted to the Khampepe Commission, that ANC leaders took ‘policy and programmatic decisions’ that could lead to actions amounting to ‘gross human rights violations’.”
He added: “Mbeki’s admission aligns with the TRC’s finding in its final report that the ANC is responsible for a series of gross human rights violations resulting from bomb attacks on public buildings, restaurants, hotels, and bars, as well as a landmine campaign”.
Kriel testified before the Khampepe Commission in February of this year, at his own request, and indicated that Van Eck would have been content had all prosecutions been halted.
However, Kriel said he felt it constituted a violation of equality before the law that members of the former security forces, such as General Johan van der Merwe, were prosecuted, while ANC leaders were not prosecuted for their decision to authorise a landmine campaign – codenamed “Operation Cetshwayo” – against civilians, which resulted in the deaths of his wife and children.
Kriel said the ANC acted in violation of Protocol I of the Geneva Convention – which the ANC had signed in 1980 – by directing the majority of its acts of terror against civilians following the Kabwe Conference.
“The ANC and its allies were responsible for hundreds of murders of civilians, including approximately 700 ‘necklace’ killings (in which a burning car tyre was placed around the victim’s neck), about 400 other instances of people being burned alive, and nearly 250 deaths resulting from bomb blasts and shootings,” Kriel said.
“On several occasions, the ANC even mentioned many of the acts of terror for which they were responsible in their own publications, such as Sechaba and Mayibuye.”
In addition to Kriel’s testimony before the Khampepe Commission, Advocate Nel also led Cilliers van der Merwe’s testimony before the same commission in February of this year.
Cilliers is the son of an innocent civilian, Jaap van der Merwe, who was cold-bloodedly murdered by ANC infiltrators near the Botswana border on 1 November 1978.
The Van der Merwe family mandated AfriForum to assist them before the Khampepe Commission.
Cilliers testified that his late mother and their family could never find closure because his father’s remains have not been located to this day.
“The surviving suspect in the murder – who used the alias John Msibi at the time – did not apply for amnesty from the TRC,” the statment said.
“His identity is known to the authorities.
“The Khampepe Commission was requested to determine why Van der Merwe’s alleged killer was not prosecuted, despite the evidence against him.”
AfriForum said Van der Merwe was murdered when he offered a lift to ANC infiltrators who were posing as hitchhikers.
“One of the ANC infiltrators shot Van der Merwe in the back for no reason; after he fell forward, the assailant turned him over and shot him in the face,” AfriForum said.
“These events, along with the names of the suspects, were later confirmed by an ANC member.
“The telescopic sight from Van der Merwe’s hunting rifle that was stolen during the attack was also subsequently discovered in an ANC arms cache.
“The TRC classified the murder as the work of ANC members.”
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