CCT 90/26 Zuma v The Chairperson of the Commission: Commissioner Sisi Khampepe 2026
29 June 2026: Judgment Reserved
31 August 2026 at 09:00:
Judgment Handed Down at Constitutional Court
WATCH TRC INQUIRY TESTIMONIES:
24 AUGUST 2026: MIN LAMOLA
25 AUGUST 2026: ADV MACADAM
26 AUGUST 2026: ADV MACADAM
27 AUGUST 2026: ADV MACADAM
28 AUGUST 2026: MS SINDANE
MEDIA REPORTS:
Cele tears into apartheid operatives
Nobody is taking the Steve Biko inquest seriously, for example, says the former police minister
Former police commissioner and minister Bheki Cele appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Cases Inquiry also known as the Khampepe Commision in Newtown, Johannesburg, on Thursday where he was questioned about his role concerning specific cases during his tenure.
He first appeared before the commission last month when he testified that he had been unaware of the outstanding TRC cases in 2010.
https://mg.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-08-27-cele-tears-into-apartheid-operatives/
Cele calls apartheid-era operatives, political leaders ‘criminals’
JOHANNESBURG – Former police minister Bheki Cele has branded apartheid-era security operatives and the politicians who directed them as criminals.
Cele defended his earlier stance against state funding for the legal costs of apartheid-era perpetrators while under cross-examination at the Khampepe Commission on Thursday.
The inquiry is probing allegations of political interference in the prosecution of TRC-era cases.
Cele served as national police commissioner from 2009 to 2011 before returning as police minister in 2018, a position he held until 2024.
Bheki Cele backs compensation for apartheid-era victims’ families
SABC 27 August 2026
Former Police Minister and National Commissioner, Bheki Cele, has been unequivocal in his support of families of victims of apartheid era human rights violations receiving financial damages compensation from the state.
Cele was testifying on Day 79 of the public hearings of the TRC Cases Inquiry taking place in Newtown, Johannesburg.
Justice Sisi Khampepe is chairing the inquiry.
Besides seeking to determine if there were efforts to block the prosecution of TRC cases, the inquiry must also recommend if there should be payment of constitutional damages.
https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/bheki-cele-backs-compensation-for-apartheid-era-victims-families/
Y-FM 26 August 2026
Former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Chris Macadam, says political interference in apartheid-era prosecutions reached the highest levels of government, with senior police officials and government ministers allegedly obstructing the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) efforts to pursue long-delayed cases.
Testifying at the TRC Cases Inquiry on Wednesday, Macadam detailed how political manoeuvring, missing dockets and attempts to impose executive control over prosecutions contributed to years of delays in cases involving apartheid-era crimes.
Chris Macadam’s explosive testimony: How Jackie Selebi obstructed TRC prosecutions
Advocate Chris Macadam, the former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions who worked on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases, testified that former Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi ordered the transfer of 400 TRC dockets from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to police to block the NPA from prosecuting ANC leaders.
Macadam claimed that he ordered the transfer as a strategic move to obstruct prosecutions of prominent ANC figures. However, Macadam denied that some of the TRC dockets transferred to SAPS may have already been decided and closed.
Ronald Lamola Stands By Decision Not To Back TRC Prosecutions Commission
Johannesburg – Former Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has stood firmly by his decision not to support the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into delays in prosecuting Truth and Reconciliation Commission cases during his time in office.
Lamola, now Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, told the ongoing inquiry into TRC-related prosecutions that he prioritised directing limited resources towards actual investigations and prosecutions rather than funding another commission.
Choice Between Resources and Inquiry
https://centralnews.co.za/ronald-lamola-stands-by-decision-not-to-back-trc-prosecutions-commission/
‘It was the right thing to do’ | Lamola defends reopening apartheid cases
‘Predecessors must account for TRC case delays’, Lamola tells inquiry
International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola said his predecessors should account for setbacks in investigating and prosecuting apartheid-era cases.
Testifying during cross-examination by counsel for the families of victims of apartheid crimes at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases inquiry on Monday, Lamola said he could only account for his own five-year term as a justice minister.
https://www.ewn.co.za/predecessors-must-account-for-trc-case-delays-lamola-tells-inquiry/
TRC Inquiry acknowledges progress achieved during Lamola’s tenure.
Former minister of justice Ronald Lamola appeared before TRC Inquiry into Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) prosecution on Monday, 24 August 2026.
Lamola was under cross-examination by the counsel for the families of victims Advocate Howard Varney, regarding his role as Justice Minister in longstanding delays in prosecuting TRC cases.
During his previous testimony last week, Lamola told the Commission that he had focused his efforts on ensuring that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had the necessary resources to investigate and prosecute TRC-related matters.
https://fullview.co.za/trc-inquiry-acknowledges-progress-achieved-during-lamolas-tenure/
WATCH | Budget woes weighed heavily on TRC prosecutions, says Lamola
Former justice minister tells inquiry of delicate balancing act dictated by financial limits
TRC Cases Inquiry | Lamola pressed over delays in apartheid-era prosecutions
Y-FM 24 August 2026
Former Justice Minister, Ronald Lamola, has faced intense questioning over whether government failed to act decisively on unresolved apartheid-era cases prosecutions.
Lamola returned to the TRC Cases Inquiry in Newtown on Monday for cross-examination by human rights lawyer, Advocate Howard Varney, who represents families of the Cradock Four.
Varney questioned Lamola on the implications of the landmark Rodriguez judgment, which found that executive decisions had prevented the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from pursuing certain apartheid-era cases.
UPCOMING TIME TABLE: 31 AUGUST – 4 SEPTEMBER 2026
- 31 August 2026 – ADJOURNED
- 01 September 2026 – ADJOURNED
- 02 September 2026 – KHULUMANI SUPPORT GROUP – PROCEEDINGS WILL RESUME AT 14H00]
- 03 September 2026: MS. BEZUIDENHOUT and COMMISSIONER SITHOLE
- 04 September 2026: AFRORAT (RIETBOK)
RE-OPENED BIKO INQUEST:
Lulama Mau Mau/The Globe and Mail
Photos document Biko’s final days as investigation gaps emerge
Photographs taken during the final days of Steve Biko’s life have provided a stark account of his deteriorating condition in detention, from being found shackled and struggling to free himself, to being discovered in a bath and later unable to sit upright.
The police photographs were put before the reopened inquest in the Gqeberha High Court on Friday as the investigating officer, Sergeant Fundiswa Dingiswayo, was taken through the historical evidence.
https://www.algoafm.co.za/local/photos-document-biko-s-final-days-as-investigation-gaps-emerge
Biko family seeks review of ruling as inquest gets underway
The Biko family has written to Chief Justice Mandisa Maya and the Department of Justice, asking for a review of Gqeberha High Court Judge Isaac Madondo’s decision to dismiss their application to postpone the reopened inquest into Steve Biko’s death.
The family had sought more time to prepare, citing missing documents, Afrikaans records from the original inquest and Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceedings that still need to be translated, and witnesses who have not yet been subpoenaed.
Madonda found that the parties had known the inquest dates for about 10 months and questioned why concerns about preparedness had not been raised at a case-management meeting on August 21.
Biko’s son, Nkosinathi, says the family is not trying to delay the process, but wants it to be conducted properly.
“Our ultimate wish is that this is done correctly. That is our argument.”
https://www.algoafm.co.za/local/biko-family-seeks-review-of-ruling-as-inquest-gets-underway
Steve Biko’s death: a new fight for apartheid-era justice
/Explain August 27, 2026
Nearly 50 years after Steve Biko died in police custody, one of apartheid South Africa’s darkest chapters is being reopened. Biko, founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, died in September 1977 after being detained and assaulted by security police in Port Elizabeth. No one has ever been held accountable for his death.
The reopened inquest, announced in September last year, finally got under way at the Gqeberha High Court on Monday. But before witnesses could take the stand, the case hit a familiar South African problem: paperwork and funding. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development finally agreed to cover the legal costs of Biko’s widow, Nontsikelelo, after Legal Aid South Africa argued over several hours in court she did not qualify for funding – a decision slammed by the judge. Biko’s family said the issue should have been resolved before the hearings began.
Nearly 50 years after Steve Biko’s death in police custody, South Africa is reopening the case to examine whether apartheid-era justice failed him.
https://explain.co.za/2026/08/27/steve-bikos-death-a-new-fight-for-apartheid-era-justice/
Steve Biko inquest: Family raises alarm as judge rejects postponement
The Citizen: 27 August 2026 by Faizel Patel
The judge questioned the timing of the application and stressed the importance of getting on with the inquest.
The reopened inquest into the death of anti‑apartheid activist Steve Biko has been thrown into uncertainty, with his son, Nkosinathi Biko, voicing deep concern over delays, restricted witness lists and the readiness of the proceedings.
Nearly five decades after Biko’s death in police custody, the question of accountability returned to the courts as the reopened inquest resumed at the Gqeberha High Court on Monday, 24 August 2026.
https://www.citizen.co.za/news/steve-biko-inquest-family-raises-alarm-judge-rejects-postponement/
