The Gugulethu Seven

The Gugulethu Seven On 3 March 1986, an anti-apartheid group of young activists between the ages of 16 and 23 were shot and killed by members of the apartheid police force in the Gugulethu township of Cape Town, who were thereafter referred to as “The Gugulethu Seven”. The seven young men included Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Zanisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Godfrey Jabulani Miya, Christopher Piet, Themba Mlifi and Zabonke John Konile. It was later uncovered that the police operation that unearthed the Gugulethu Seven’s plans had been in the works for some time. In the mid-1980s, there was a dramatic rise in Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) operations, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). In response, General Griebenouw of the Western Cape Security called upon Brigadier Schoon of the Security Branch Headquarters in Pretoria as well as the assistance of an apartheid death squad, led by Vlakplaas commander, Eugene de Kock. De Kock chose Sergeant Rian “Balletjies” Bellinghan to lead an operative team ordered to intervene with anti-apartheid operations. The men chosen as part of the team were Thapelo Johannes Mbelo, Joe Coetzer, and other Vlakplaas askaris like Gladstone Mose (aka “Jackson Mlenze”), Eric “Shakes” Maluleke and Xola Frank “Jimmy” Mbane. The operative team was based in Koeberg and in early January 1986, they drove into Cape Town aboard three vehicles; one was a minibus with weapons and explosives concealed inside. After seve