In a trial arising out of an incident in June 1985 at the home of Edgar Ngoyi, president of the Eastern Cape UDF, Boy-Boy Michael DICK (19) was sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment for the murder of an Azanian People's Organisation member. In mid-February 1988 Dick pleaded guilty to charges of killing Phakamisa Nogwaza who was said to have thrown a bomb at the home of Ngoyi, whom Dick was guarding.
In a trial last year Ngoyi and another man were acquitted of the murder of Nogwaza. However at the end of the proceedings Ngoyi was detained under the emergency regulations and is still being held. In September the State decided to reopen the case and it may be that the trial of Dick is the outcome of further investigations.
Two separate trials both concerning the death of a black policeman, Lulama Simon Bomali, in February 1985 were concluded in the Grahamstown Supreme Court in February 1988.
In a trial which concluded on 2 February, Thembinkosi ADONISI (19) pleaded guilty to the murder of Bomali. In a statement submitted to the court, Adonisi admitted participating in the attack on Bomali and asked that the court take into account the fact that he was only 16 years old at the time of the incident, that he had not played a leading role and that he had been under the influence of others. The court accepted these extenuating circumstances and sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment.
In a second trial, emergency detainee Modada JACOBS (23), a Cradock Youth Association leader was also charged with the murder of Bomali. Jacobs, who made his first court appearance in February 1985, pleaded not guilty.
The court was faced with conflicting versions of events from a state witness and the defendant. When it became clear that the State's case was weak, the prosecution asked that Jacobs be convicted not of murder but of public violence. The court found Jacobs to be a 'singularly impressive witness' and acquitted him.
Minutes after being discharged, Jacobs was taken back into police custody under the terms of the emergency regulations. He had already spent two years in detention immediately prior to the trial. Jacobs has suffered four years of police harassment. In 1984 he was detained with Matthew Goniwe, chair of the Cradock Residents Association, and others, under Section 28 of the Internal Security Act, which allows preventive detention. Having spent three months in detention, he was charged with public violence but acquitted.
In a trial in the Pretoria Regional Court Samuel HLONGWANE (22) was charged with the attempted murder of a black policeman by allegedly setting him alight. Few details of the trial were available but it appears that Hlongwane was sentenced to 10 years on 27 January.
