AfriPulse
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has finalised the inquest into the death and identity of anti-apartheid activist Scorpio Oupa Ronald Madondo, confirming decades of uncertainty about the activist known as Scorpio.
The finalisation follows the Pongola Magistrate’s Court ruling on 27 August 2025. The court ruled that Scorpio Oupa Ronald Madondo was the activist who disappeared in 1979 and was killed in 1980.
WHO WAS OUPA RONALD MADONDO, KNOWN AS SCORPIO?
Madondo was an African National Congress activist born in 1948.
The ANC recruited him in the early 1970s. Apartheid police arrested him in June 1978 and again in September 1979. Shortly after his release, the Security Branch kidnapped him.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTI-APARTHEID ACTIVIST SCORPIO?
The apartheid-era Security Branch kidnapped and killed Scorpio, blowing up his body near Jozini Dam in KwaZulu-Natal in 1980.
The Security Branch members Johan Martin van Zyl, Donald Spence Gold, Schalk Jan Visser, Gerhardus Stephanus Schoon, and Disre Carr admitted their role during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) amnesty hearings in 1996.
The TRC granted them amnesty, but they were unable to determine the true identity of Scorpio. As a result, the commission referred the matter to the National Prosecuting Authority for further investigation.
NPA RELOOKS INQUEST, INQUEST CONFIRMS IDENTITY OF SCORPIO
In 2021, the NPA, under the guidance of KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Ncedile Dunywa and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, reopened the case.
At the request of Madondo’s family, the NPA re-examined his disappearance and death.
This NPA, with the help of testimonies from family members, acquaintances, ANC members, and former Security Branch officials, confirmed that Scorpio Oupa Ronald Madondo was the activist known as Scorpio.
FAMILY FINDS CLOSURE AFTER INQUEST
Although the perpetrators cannot face prosecution due to the TRC
Source: The South African | Read the Full Story…
