By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
- Caiphus Nyoka was gunned down in his sleep by apartheid police in Daveyton in 1987. The court ruled it was a planned hit, not self-defence.
- One officer had already pleaded guilty earlier this year. Two others were convicted on Tuesday. A fourth walked free after being acquitted.
Caiphus Nyoka was only 23 when police stormed into his backyard room in Daveyton and shot him 12 times.
That was in 1987. On Tuesday — 38 years later — two of the men who pulled the trigger were finally found guilty of his murder.
Nyoka was a rising star in the fight against apartheid. As a leader in the Congress of South African Students, he helped organise protests across the East Rand. His activism made him a target.
In the early hours of 24 August 1987, a team of apartheid Security Branch officers launched a raid on his home.
They shot him four times in the head and chest, and then fired more shots into his body. Three other young activists were also attacked and tortured but survived.
The killing was ruled “justifiable homicide” by a 1990s inquest. But the truth started to come out in 2019, when one of the officers admitted what really happened during an interview with a journalist.
Nyoka’s family, with help from the Foundation for Human Rights and a private law firm, pushed for charges. None of the officers had applied for amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Four men were eventually charged. One pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this year. On Tuesday, the Johannesburg High Court (sitting in Benoni) found two others guilty of murder. A fourth man was acquitted.
Prosecutors said the raid was a secret plan to assassinate Nyoka, who posed no threat at the time.
His siblings said it brought “bittersweet closure”, as their parents died without seeing justice.
The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the verdict. Sentencing will take place soon.
Pictured above: Caiphus Nyoka.
Image source: Supplied
