Nokuthula Simelane‚ from Bethal‚ was 23 when she was abducted from Johannesburg’s Carlton Centre by the Soweto security branch on September 8 1983. She was taken to a farm in North West‚ where she was tortured for several weeks. This is according to evidence heard at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Eight Soweto security branch operatives applied for amnesty for Nokuthula’s detention and torture. Five were successful.
Simelane’s sister filed an application before the Pretoria high court in May last year in a bid to force a formal inquest into her suspected kidnapping‚ torture and murder.
Thembi Nkadimeng‚ a mayor of Polokwane‚ said in a statement issued by the Southern African Litigation Centre last year that there has been no rest for her family since her sister’s disappearance.
“We know she suffered terribly but we don’t know how she died‚ and where her body is today. We have spent three decades looking for Nokuthula. Now we want justice and closure.”
