The inquest into the death of prominent anti-apartheid human rights lawyer, Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge, returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday in a bid to revisit the circumstances surrounding his killing by apartheid-era Security Branch operatives in November 1981.
The matter first came before the court on April 14 2025, but has since faced two postponements due to delays in securing legal representation for former Security Branch members who are key witnesses in the proceedings.
In a statement released by Regional Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in the KwaZulu-Natal Division, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, the NPA said that during Thursday’s appearance, the court was informed that the issue of legal representation has now been narrowed, with only three of the seven witnesses still requiring final confirmation of their legal counsel.
The presiding officer directed both the state and the respondents to prepare written arguments on whether the inquest should be formally reopened, a move seen as critical in re-examining evidence surrounding Mxenge’s assassination.
Proceedings are expected to resume on April 28-30, 2026, when arguments will be heard, and outstanding legal representation issues will be finalised for the remaining respondents.
In 1981, Mxenge was returning home from his legal office in the Durban central business district, when he was kidnapped, brutally murdered and his body was found on a sports field in Umlazi south of Durban.
His son, Mbasa Mxenge, then 15 years old, said the family welcomed the reopening of the inquest and appealed to the assassins, who confessed their involvement in the killing to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC), to reveal who had ordered them to carry out the killing.
