Getrude Makhafola

Getrude Makhafola

Former MK cadre Charles Zwane is still in jail after 16 years, but nobody at Correctional Services seems to be able to explain why.

Zwane was arrested and sentenced to death in 1989 but, according to his mother, Macy Zwane, he was granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2001.

Investigating his continued imprisonment, Sowetan was told earlier this week that his case "was being handled" by the area commissioner for Leeuwkop prison.

But it is understood that Zwane's file is now sitting with Gauteng Correctional Services' spokesperson Simphiwe Kondleka, who told Sowetan he had not yet "gone through the file".

Zolile Nqayi, spokesman for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, told Sowetan said that he did not know of any anyone, with a similar political background to Zwane's, who was still in prison waiting to be released.

"I don't know specifically of such an individual [Zwane] in Leeuwkop," Nqayi added.

Advocate Khaya Zweni, of the Human Rights Commission, said: "There should be a valid reason why he is still being kept in Leeuwkop.

"One recourse for him would be to sue the Correctional Services Department for the unnecessary time spent in jail."