Two of the incidents involving deaths occurred in the Transkei bantustan.
- On 27 February Siphiwo Hamlet MAZWAI (30), described in the press as an ANC guerrilla, was shot by bantustan police in what was reported as a shoot-out in Mount Fletcher. However his family only learnt of his death later from a priest, and accused the authorities of deliberately concealing the circumstances surrounding his killing. According to an eye witness who was not named two suspected guerrillas in a car had tried to escape - one was successful while the other, apparently Mazwai, was killed. Another report said that two men had escaped. Four people were detained in Mount Fletcher following the shooting incident
- Three people were killed on 5 February when police in a minibus fired into a car behind which they had stopped. The fourth passenger, Thozamile NKUNE, was injured and subsequently held in hospital under police guard. The police said that a passenger had opened the car door as they approached, and was holding a hand-grenade - they had then started firing. They also said they found arms in the car. Nkune, in a statement to his lawyer, said that there were no grenades or arms in the car. Those killed were M K GIFT, allegedly a trained guerrilla; Zolile SANGONI and Zonwabele MAYAPHI.
- Earlier this year Transkei bantustan police shot Sithembele ZOKWE (36). On the basis of a misleading press report, it was mistakenly reported in FOCUS 73 that Zokwe was killed in August last year in an earlier attempt on his life by bantustan police, who shot him and left him for dead. He survived but was detained again in January in Butterworth.
There have been conflicting reports about the incident. The police said they took Zokwe to his house to search it. They said that while there, he attempted to throw a hand-grenade at the policemen with him although he was hand-cuffed and was shot. A press report in the New Nation quoted local sources suggesting that Zokwe, formerly an ANC member, could have become an informer, and was killed by the police when they thought they could no longer make use of him.
