The head of the investigative unit of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) may find himself having to answer questions at a special amnesty hearing on the alleged use of his car by the men who launched a murderous attack on a tavern in Cape Town in December 1993.
Mr Dumisa Ntsebeza has been served with an official notice informing him that he may have an interest in, or may be implicated by, applications for amnesty from three men jailed for their role in the attack on the Heidelberg Tavern.
The hearing at which their applications will be considered starts today, the TRC spokesman, Mr John Allen, told The Irish Times yesterday.
According to Mr Allen, a witness told the original police investigators that he had seen the men suspected of carrying out the attack transferring from one car to another. The registration number for the second, get-away car was found to belong to Mr Ntsebeza, a prominent black lawyer, said Mr Allen.
Mr Ntsebeza was not charged and the question of his alleged involvement in the attack was not even raised during the trial that led to the imprisonment of three amnesty applicants. According to Mr Allen, none of the applicants mention Mr Ntsebeza's alleged involvement in the attack. After the TRC was established it started its own, independent investigation into the attack, in which four people were killed. The investigators came across the police file containing the startling information about Mr Ntsebeza.
They referred it to senior TRC members, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who told them to continue with their investigation. Mr Ntsebeza, who denied the allegation, assured Archbishop Tutu that he was in control of his car at the time and rescued himself from the investigation.
Later, a notice was served on Mr Ntsebeza informing him of the pending amnesty hearing because it might affect him, but, in doing so, the amnesty committee was treating him in exactly the same manner as it would any citizen in a similar situation, Mr Allen said.