KZN anti-apartheid activist seeks to clear his name, appeals murder conviction
A former activist, who fought against the apartheid government, is determined to clear his name and restore his reputation after he was labelled an apartheid collaborator and convicted of the murder of a fellow activist.
Gugulethu “Matiri” Madonsela was recently granted R10,000 bail pending his appeal. He had already spent almost two years in jail. He was found guilty in November 2023 of the February 1989 murder of his fellow comrade Siphelele Nxumalo and sentenced to ten years in prison. Nxumalo was shot dead in Chesterville.
Madonsela’s appeal against his conviction and sentence is currently before the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Speaking to The Mercury this week, just days after being granted bail, Madonsela stated that Nxumalo was his comrade, and he was close to his parents, who were also involved in the fight against apartheid. They had been together since around 1985.
“I maintain that I had nothing to do with the killing,” he said.
Giving context to his life and underground ANC activities that eventually led to the current accusations against him of murder and skipping bail, he explained that life had been difficult under the burden of apartheid. He and 18 other activists had intended to go into exile.
In 1987, they attempted to go into exile but were arrested near the Golela border post, imprisoned, and severely assaulted. After that, he was arrested again by the apartheid regime and kept in prison, only to be released later.
In 1989, he was arrested again for the murder of Nxumalo. “I was arrested with another comrade; we were granted bail of a thousand rand. I was still intending to go into exile, so after I was granted bail, I made my plans to leave. Therefore, in the eyes of the law, I had skipped bail.”
He returned to the country in 1992 and found that his family was in a desperate situation, which led him to get involved in armed robbery.
He was arrested that year and sentenced to six years in prison but was released early on parole. He turned around his life and got a job at a state parastatal, where he worked until he was arrested by the Hawks in 2022 for the murder of Nxumalo.
“In all these years I have been in the country, no one ever came to me to say they were looking for me for that case. When I heard that they had been asking about me, I alerted them to where I was working.”
He stated that the public statement made when he was arrested had tarnished his name.
“It was reported that Madonsela, who was an A Team and Security Branch (apartheid collaborators), had been arrested after being on the run for 34 years. That is a lie; I was never on the run for 34 years. I was never any of those things. I challenge them to provide proof.
“Those people were being paid; surely the state would have evidence of me getting paid. Those people had handlers; they should say who my handlers were. They are not producing that because I know it does not exist,” he said.
The date for the appeal is yet to be set.