AfriForum’s Gerrie Nel wants to cross-examine former President Thabo Mbeki about the murder of a family in an ANC landmine attack

Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, has applied to cross-examine former President Thabo Mbeki before the Khampepe Commission.

The Khampepe Commission refers to two judicial inquiries in South Africa led by retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe.

President Cyril Ramaphosa established the commissions on 29 May 2025 to probe attempts to prevent the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.

This includes possible collusion between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

It happened after the families of the Cradock Four began exerting pressure to determine in which cases former president Thabo Mbeki and others had politically intervened.

This alleged intervention included preventing 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 were not prosecuted.

On Thursday, 14 May 2026, Ramaphosa extended the term of the Khampepe Commission to 18 December 2026.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel has now announced that they have submitted a formal request to the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry.

This request is seeking permission for Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, to cross-examine former President Thabo Mbeki.

The cross-examination would pertain to Mbeki’s alleged political interference aimed at preventing the prosecution of himself and other senior leaders.

This was linked to the murder of, among others, Kobie van Eck and her two young children, Nelmarie and Nasie, in a 1985 ANC landmine attack near Musina.

The late Dirk van Eck requested AfriForum’s assistance to ensure that 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,” AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said.

“These decisions taken by the ANC included targeting innocent civilians through acts of terror, including landmine attacks.”

“The request seeks his prosecution for his alleged complicity in the gross human rights violations that stemmed from those decisions.”

Mbeki’s testimony before the Khampepe Commission will be heard on Monday, 19 October 2026, and Tuesday, 20 October 2026.

It will include testimony about his alleged role in preventing prosecutions related to Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases.

AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel provides further details

“Mbeki stated in his affidavit that ANC leaders took policy and programmatic decisions that could lead to actions amounting to gross human rights violations,” he said.

“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.”

“These include actions 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 and indicated that Van Eck would have been content had all prosecutions been halted.

However, he felt it constituted a violation of equality before the law that members of the former security forces, such as Gen. Johan van der Merwe, were prosecuted.

This happened while ANC leaders were not prosecuted for their decision to authorise a landmine campaign, codenamed Operation Cetshwayo, against civilians.

One of the landmine attacks as part of Operation Cetshwayo resulted in the deaths of his wife and children.

According to Kriel, the ANC violated Protocol I of the Geneva Convention, which it had signed in 1980.

This violation was caused by the ANC 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,” he said.

There were approximately 400 other instances of people being burned alive, and 250 deaths resulting from bomb blasts and shootings.

“The ANC even mentioned many of the acts of terror for which they were responsible in their own publications, such as Sechaba and Mayibuye,” Kriel said.