Identities of individual perpetrators in Highgate massacre remain unknown

While a ruling by the Eastern Cape High Court has exonerated members of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)’s military wing from the brutal Highgate massacre, the identities of the individual perpetrators remain unknown.

The court handed down judgement on Monday in the inquest, which has been running since January.

The judge ruled that the perpetrators were probably members of apartheid security forces.

ALSO READ: Highgate massacre: Court rules apartheid security forces were probably behind attack on patrons

Five people were killed and seven others injured when assailants entered the Highgate Hotel bar in May 1993.

According to the judgement handed down by Judge Denzil Potgiter, the perpetrators of the Highgate Hotel massacre were probably members of the apartheid security forces renegade group that seemingly intended to stage the attach to falsely implicate the PAC’s military wing, APLA.

This seemed to have been an attempt to destabilise the country and the transition into democracy.

“The attack was meticulously planned and callously executed with the precision of highly-trained operatives. Its consequences were lethal. They virtually destroyed the lives of the many affected parties who are left without redress. Its sheer wickedness is beyond comprehension.”

For decades, APLA bore the blame for the attack, their involvement being a narrative that persisted among many.

But during the inquest, the court heard how the assailants who entered the bar seemed like trained military personnel and used State-owned ammunition to carry out the crime.

While this judgement confirms the suspicions that families and victims have had for years, the court has failed to identify the individual behind the attack.