Advocate Rodney de Kock, Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions of the NPA. (Luke Daniel/News24)
*STATEMENT BY THE DE KOCK FAMILY ON THE PASSING OF DEPUTY NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS, ADV RODNEY DE KOCK*
It is with great sadness, that the De Kock family announces the passing of Adv Rodney De Kock, a seasoned advocate and officer of the court, who, at the time of his departure, was the Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP). Adv De Kock was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer in early December last year, resulting in a rapid decline in his health condition. He succumbed to the cancer at Morningside Mediclinic in Johannesburg, Gauteng yesterday evening, 20 January 2025, surrounded by family and friends.
Adv De Kock had a distinguished career in private practice, the training and mentoring of young legal practitioners, and in the management of the prosecutorial services in the country. Advocate De Kock articled at Wilkinson Joshua and Gihwalla in 1983, where he became a partner. He went on to serve as Head of the Legal Aid Board Clinic at the University of Cape Town from 1994 to 1999, under whom numerous candidate attorneys completed their articles. Adv De Kock was a founding member and served on the executive of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) established in 1987 under the leadership of renowned Cape Town lawyer and later the first Minister of Justice in a democratic South Africa, the late former Minister Dullah Omar, and the esteemed late Chief Justice Pius Langa and many others. He served as a Presiding Officer in the Electoral Court in 1994 and in 1997 he was appointed by the Minister of Justice, as a member of the Legal Aid Task Team which drafted the country’s National Public Defender Model.
Adv De Kock was the first black person to be appointed an Attorney General in the country when he took up the post of Attorney General of the Western Cape from 1999, after which he joined the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as Director of Public Prosecutions for the Western Cape in November 2003. He was also asked to act as the National Director of Public Prosecutions in 2019 by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He was appointed by the President as Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions in June 2020, a position he held until his passing.
After a luminary career, marked by an uncompromising dedication to justice, the democratic order, and to his fellow citizens, his family and friends take great solace in knowing that Rodney served his country with unblemished integrity, dedication, honesty and humility. He was a devoted father to his children, Ryan and Samanth, whom he loved and cherished dearly.
Adv De Kock had many other interests and talents. He was a serious musician, having mastered the guitar and the saxophone. He was also a weekend motor mechanic and had a passion for spending time in the outdoors in the company of good friends.
The De Kock family takes much comfort from the fact that their beloved father, brother, and elder, passed peacefully after a short but courageous battle. They are grateful for the time they have shared with him.
Adv De Kock leaves behind his two children and four siblings. The family wishes to express its appreciation for the support from government, colleagues and friends at this difficult time.
The family requests some privacy as they come to terms with the loss and make the necessary arrangements to lay Adv De Kock to rest.
Details of the memorial and funeral service will be communicated in due course.
*Enquiries: Mr Nazeem Mahatey, Family Spokesperson, on 082 376 3820.*
Survivors and families of anti-apartheid activists sue the government for constitutional damages
FHR: MEDIA RELEASE – For immediate release 23 January 2025
On 20 January 2025, twenty-five families and survivors of apartheid-era crimes brought an application in the Pretoria High Court against President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government, seeking constitutional damages for the government’s gross failure to adequately investigate and prosecute apartheid-era
political crimes following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process.
They also seek an order compelling the President to establish an independent and public commission of inquiry into the political interference that resulted in the suppression of several hundred serious crimes arising from South Africa’s past.
The applicants are the survivors of the Highgate Hotel Massacre, Neville Beling and Karl Weber; as well as the family members of the Cradock Four, Richard and Irene Motasi, Caiphus Nyoka, the PEBCO 3, the COSAS 4, Nokuthula Simelane, Rick Turner, Musawakhe ‘Sbho’ Phewa, Hoosen Haffejee, Mxolisi ‘Dicky’ Jacobs, Imam Abdullah Haron, Deon Harris, Matthews ‘Mojo’ Mabelane, Ntombikayise Priscilla Kubheka, Ignatius ‘Iggy’ Mthebule and Nicholas Ramatua ‘Boiki’ Tlhapi.
“Our families were denied our constitutional right to justice when successive governments, starting with the one led by former President Thabo Mbeki, failed to implement the recommendations of the TRC’s Amnesty Committee. One recommendation was to prosecute unresolved apartheid-era cases of forced
disappearances, deaths in detention and murders of anti-apartheid activists” says Lukhanyo Calata, the son of Fort Calata. Fort and his comrades Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, were murdered in 1985. They became known as the Cradock Four.
“Instead, in the more than 20 years following the handover of the TRC report to Mbeki, government ministers have intervened to prevent the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from carrying out its constitutional mandate to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. Justice delayed in
this manner has ensured that justice is permanently denied to our families” he adds.
In the application the families seek constitutional damages against the State. “Constitutional damages are last resort legal remedies for addressing egregious violations of constitutional rights by the state. In this case, the suppression of post-TRC accountability efforts has led to the loss of witnesses, perpetrators and
evidence, making prosecutions impossible in most cases and denying survivors and victims’ families rights to justice, truth, and closure” says Odette Geldenhuys, the Head of the Webber Wentzel Pro Bono Department, representing the applicants in the case.
Dr Zaid Kimmie from the Foundation for Human Rights emphasises that “The co-applicants are pursuing this case not only on behalf of their own rights but also in the public interest and for all survivors and families of victims who aim to address the systemic failure caused by political interference in the investigations and prosecutions of the TRC cases”.
/END
Media queries:
Lukhanyo Calata 082 394 6481
Zaid Kimmie 082 883 4934 or Mosa Leteane 076 707 8600, Foundation for Human Rights
Odette Geldenhuys, Webber Wentzel 083 776 6611
NOTICE OF MOTION

Media briefing notes can be downloaded on this link.
An overview of the court application can be downloaded on this link:
A full set of the court papers (signed and stamped) can be downloaded on this link.
The Highgate Hotel massacre was initially attributed to the Azanian People Liberation Army but no convictions were ever secured.
24 JAN 2025 THE CITIZEN By Jarryd Westerdale
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will revisit the Highgate Hotel massacre, which claimed the lives of five people.
Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Barry Madolo approved the formal inquest in 2024 with the view to determine if anyone can be held criminally liable for the killings.
The shooting was initially blamed on the Pan Africanist Congress’s military wing. However, investigations yielded no convictions.
Killed on International Workers Day
Multiple gunmen opened fire on patrons at the establishment on 1 May 1993, killing five and injuring another seven.
Located in the East London suburb of Cambridge, the NPA states it was a bar known to be frequented by police officers.
A phone call made before the attack was credited to a man named Carl Zimbiri of the Internal High Command of the Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA), yet this was never proven.
“APLA director of operations, Letlapa Mphahlele, denied knowledge of involvement in the attack,” confirmed Eastern Cape NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali.
“Three survivors of the attack and two family members of the victims gave their testimonies at the TRC hearings. However, no amnesty applications were made by suspected perpetrators,” Tyali added.
Closure sought
The NPA and the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) state the APLA had taken credit for several other attacks, but not the Highgate Hotel massacre.
Both entities hope that the inquest can bring closure to the families of the victims.
“It is with regret that this matter of such importance in the political history of the country, with the carnage it entailed, has not only gone unprosecuted, but completely unresolved,’ stated Tyali.
Survivors and families of the victims formed the Highgate Survivors Support Group in 2007 and have been relentless in seeking justice for their slain loved ones.
“The history of this matter is also an example of extraordinary perseverance by the survivors and the victims’ families, who have been tirelessly fighting for justice,” stated the FHR.
The inquest is scheduled to begin on 27 January and will be before a judge until
7 February at a Special Tribunal facility in Vincent, East London.