Former Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has strongly rejected allegations that he may have colluded with apartheid-era security generals to secure pardons for human rights violations.
Testifying before the TRC Cases Inquiry in Johannesburg, Nqakula said the allegations were deeply offensive, given his involvement in the liberation struggle and the persecution and killing of his comrades under apartheid.
He recalled receiving support in his youth from Reverend James Calata, the grandfather of Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four who were killed by apartheid security forces.
Nqakula also reflected on his close working relationship with Chris Hani, whom he served alongside as deputy when Hani was Secretary-General of the South African Communist Party from 1991 until his assassination in 1993.
He said the suggestion that he would support pardons for those responsible for human rights abuses undermined the sacrifices made by anti-apartheid activists.
“Anyone who would suggest that I would have supported a measure that would have defiled the memory of not just Chris Hani but also of Calata [...] that is a deep insult,” Nqakula told the inquiry.
He also recalled how Reverend Calata had been banned and detained under apartheid, despite serving as a priest, and described how security police would come to fetch him from church.
Nqakula maintained that the allegations were an affront to the memory of those who suffered and died in the struggle against apartheid.