The Arrest and Judicial Murder of Sipho Xulu and Lucky Payi
On 7 June 1984, Sipho Brigitte “MaChina” Xulu (aka “Mpisekhaya”) and Clarence Lucky Payi (aka “Sihle”) were arrested by the apartheid security police for the assassination of Benjamin “Ben” Langa. On the night of 20 May 1984, Payi, Xulu and George Martins were driven by Dennis Hadebe to a house in the Georgetown area of Pietermaritzburg. Martins walked up to the house and his acquaintance Ben Langa opened the door. While the two men were conversing, Xulu and Payi walked up to them, whereby Xulu fired a shot from a Makarov pistol into Langa’s chest, while Payi shot Langa in the head with his Luger pistol. Both cadres fired other shots each and these bullets were lodged in the wall of the building.
According to evidence provided by Joel George Martins at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearing held at the Pinetown Magistrate Court, on 27 June 2000, he had known Sipho Xulu since the early 1980s, as they both belonged to fraternal organisations that were affiliated to the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Pietermaritzburg. Xulu belonged to the Sobantu Youth Organisation (SOYO), while Martins belonged to the D.C.O. Matiwane Youth Organisation, with was based in the Edendale settlement of Pietermaritzburg. Sipho Xulu had left the country in 1982 for military training in Angola.
Before they undertook the operation, Xulu came to George Martins’ brother’s apartment in Edendale, Piet
