Gangster State

shocks.^29 At the time, the police had strongly denied the allegations.
The testimony before the inquiry about the police’s conduct, especially
with regards to the audio recordings, was compelling enough to raise
the spectre of a far-reaching political conspiracy. But that was not the
most sensitive testimony made before Soomaroo.
During cross-examination by the state advocate, Nokwanda was
asked to elaborate on who she thought her late husband’s political
enemies had been. She was hesitant to respond, saying that she ‘knew
the politics’ in the province and feared for her and her children’s safety.
Soomaroo decided that Nokwanda should provide such information in
camera.^30
Then, about midway through the inquiry, Edeling applied to have a
second witness testify behind closed doors. This was Marshoff, and her
testimony included the story she told me about the NIA agent.
The Soomaroo inquiry wrapped up towards the end of May 2008. It
effectively slammed the eagerness with which the police and the NPA
had arrested and prosecuted Nokwanda and her relatives. ‘Nokwanda,
Bongani, Tantaswa, Vuyokazi and Siphumle were not directly or
indirectly involved in the murder of Noby,’ Soomaroo concluded.
Although the inquiry did not come close to identifying those
responsible for the murder, Soomaroo found that the evidence given in
camera pointed to a ‘further route’ that required exploration.^31
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there is no evidence to suggest that the NPA
or any law-enforcement agency heeded Soomaroo’s instruction. In fact,
all indications are that forces in the law-enforcement and justice
environments acted to further cover up the matter after the inquiry.
In early 2018 , Nokwanda set out to retrieve the inquiry’s records from
the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. She had long entertained the