President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged on Thursday, 3 September 2026, that the government would not abandon the search for liberation activist Nokuthula Simelane, who was abducted in 1983 and whose remains have never been recovered. Ramaphosa made the commitment during the inaugural Nokuthula Simelane Memorial Lecture at the University of Mpumalanga in Mbombela, an event listed on the Presidency’s calendar for 13h00 to 16h00.
Simelane, an Umkhonto weSizwe operative, was abducted in Johannesburg on 11 September 1983 after being lured to a meeting, according to accounts documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and South African History Online. Her case has become one of the country’s most enduring unresolved enforced disappearances from the apartheid era.
Addressing the lecture, Ramaphosa framed the search as unfinished national business. “We will not abandon the search for the truth about what happened to Nokuthula. We will not rest until she can be laid to rest and until those responsible are held to account,” he said.
The TRC Amnesty Committee granted amnesty in May 2001 for the abduction aspect of the case to certain applicants, but no one has publicly resolved the full circumstances of Simelane’s death or the location of her burial. The TRC process addressed parts of the case but never produced complete closure for the family.
Ramaphosa emphasised the family’s right to dignity. “The Simelane family deserves to know the specific place where their daughter lies, so that they may finally lay her to rest with the dignity that was denied her in life,” he told the audience.
The President also referenced ongoing criminal proceedings connected to the case. “Today, the nation still awaits the outcome of the criminal charges that were brought against Coetzee,” Ramaphosa said, referring to former security police officer Willem Coetzee, whose alleged role in Simelane’s abduction and torture surfaced during TRC hearings.
On 25 February 2026, Daily Maverick reported that the Khampepe Commission, established to examine delays in TRC-related prosecutions, heard evidence linking security police to Simelane’s kidnapping and torture. The commission’s findings remain pending, and the exact timeline for its conclusion has not been independently confirmed.
South African History Online describes Simelane’s disappearance as a defining case in the country’s liberation history, placing it alongside other unresolved apartheid-era abductions where families were left without answers for decades. The case has drawn sustained attention from human rights organisations and has been cited in broader debates about post-apartheid justice and accountability.
Ramaphosa closed his address by linking Simelane’s legacy to the wider struggle for historical justice. “We owe it to Nokuthula, and to every activist like her, to make sure the truth is uncovered and that justice is finally served,” he said.
What remains unknown is the precise location of Simelane’s remains, the current status of the criminal charges against Coetzee, and when the Khampepe Commission will finalise its work. Cape Flats News journalist Nadia Jacobs will follow up with the National Prosecuting Authority and the commission’s secretariat by the end of September 2026.