Jeff Radebe says justice must always be blind.

ANC veteran and one of the longest-serving former cabinet ministers testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Cases Inquiry for his role as the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development between 2009 and 2014 in relation to the TRC cases.

During his testimony, Radebe refuted any involvement in, or knowledge of, attempts to interfere with the progress of the TRC cases.

The 73-year-old struggle veteran stressed his non-interference in prosecutorial matters, which are exclusively vested in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Radebe joined a list of former ministers such as Penuell Maduna, Bridgettte Mabandla and deputy minister John Jeffreys, who all denied any involvement in or interference with the TRC cases.

“I never sought to interfere with the prosecutorial responsibilities of the NPA. As both an activist and lawyer, I was always aware of the undue political interference in prosecution during the apartheid regime. So I was very conscious.”

He went on to prove to the commission that he never interfered even when his ANC comrades were in legal trouble.

He stated that the former ANC Northern Cape leader, John Block, was prosecuted by the NPA despite his huge popularity at the time. Block was sentenced after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering connected to the leasing of buildings for the provincial Social Development Department, alongside the CEO of the implicated Trifecta group of companies, Christo Scholtz.

“I cannot think of other cases besides Block and the case in KwaZulu-Natal which involved an ANC politician and public servant whom I believe is still in prison,” he said.

He asserted that he only called for a meeting with Menzi Simelane, who was the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), to seek an update.

Radebe, a longstanding freedom fighter who was the commander of the Self-Defence Unit (SDU) in southern Natal, was given amnesty for his role alongside two others from his unit in 1998 by the TRC.

Radebe told the commission that his role was limited to the ceremonial and he remembered only two occasions where he played such a role. “I attended the exhumation reburial of our combatants who died fighting for freedom. And there was another exhumation that took place in the Eastern Cape carried out by the Missing Persons Task Team,” he explained.

He was referring to the brutal murder of Sipho Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi and Champion

Galela, who are known as the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO) Three. on May 8, 1985.

He recalls the department’s director-general briefing the meeting about the lack of progress regarding the TRC cases.

When asked about the letter written to the NDPP regarding the query on the progress of TRC cases by Andrea Gabriel SC, Radebe came to Nonkululeko Sindane’s defence and asserted that she acted well within her mandate as the accounting officer.

It emerged during the testimony that the former director-general, Sindane, who appeared before the commission and refuted any involvement in the TRC, had asked Radebe to write a letter to the NDPP regarding the lack of progress regarding the TRC cases. The letter was written and signed in 2014 and sent to the NDPP.

Asked by the evidence leader, Advocate William Mokhari, what he would do differently insofar as applying Section 33 as the minister responsible, he said that other than asking for a comprehensive report from the NDPP, the worst scenario would be to resort to replacing the NDPP by asking the president to do so.

Advocate Howard Varney, appearing on behalf of victims represented by the Calata Group, has applied to cross-examine Radebe.

The commission will resume next Tuesday when the former deputy national police commissioner, Timothy Williams, will be testifying.