The Sharpeville Six were six South African protesters convicted of the murder of Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville , Kuzwayo Jacob Dlamini, and sentenced to death.
7-745: On September 3, 1984, a protest march in Sharpeville turned violent (some of the crowd threw stones at Dlamini's house, he responded by firing a gun and a riot ensued) and the Deputy Mayor was murdered. Mojalefa Sefatsa, Theresa Ramashamola, Reid Mokoena, Oupa Diniso, Duma Khumalo and Francis Don Mokhesi were arrested in the following months, found guilty of murder under the " Common purpose " doctrine and sentenced to death by hanging on December 12, 1985. Christian Mokubung and Gideon Mokone were also sentenced to eight years in prison. All were represented by lawyer Prakash Diar. The convictions were widely condemned by
14-559: The international community as unlawful and racist, particularly in United Nations Security Council Resolution 610 and 615 . Two jurists reviewing the case said it was a " crime against humanity ". Within the South African legal community opinion was mixed. A poll by The Star of eleven law professors showed that five were supportive of the execution, while six were not – of the six who were not, four raised
21-499: The 1984 law of " common purpose ", which allowed a person to be convicted for having been in the vicinity of an offence, without personally committing it. In 1988, he received a stay of execution the day before sentence was to be carried out. Following his release from jail in 1991, Kumalo became involved in many human rights activities, including discussions about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and work with Amnesty International . He
28-539: The fall of apartheid, the first members of the Sharpeville Six, Diniso and Khumalo, were released on July 10, 1991, followed by Ramashamola and Mokoena on December 13, 1991, and the final two, Mokhesi and Sefatsa released on September 26, 1992. Duma Kumalo Duma Joshua Kumalo (died 3 February 2006) was a South African human rights activist and one of the Sharpeville Six . He was condemned to death under
35-435: The prospect of legal reforms and the remaining two remarked the case "smacks of simple vengeance". One professor was dispatched to London to defend the South African government's position on the matter. However, at a press conference, he stated he had not read the trial record but insisted that there had been no miscarriage of justice and "all arguments had been heard". The following day after Security Council Resolution 610
42-597: Was a founder member of the Khulumani Support Group for victims of apartheid -related violence. Kumalo also became involved in theatre and film projects as a way of telling his story and engaging others with human rights issues. His play The Story I Am About To Tell enjoyed huge success, running in South Africa and internationally for five years. Kumalo also contributed to Zulu Love Letter , by Ramadan Suleman and Bheki Pieterson. This article about
49-569: Was adopted, a South African court granted a one-month stay of execution. Of the six, only four appealed and the other two indicated they would rather be executed. The appeal was rejected in June 1988, which the Security Council condemned in Resolution 615 ; however pressure from abroad finally led to the sentences of all six being commuted to 18–25 years in prison by President Pieter Willem Botha . With
#907092