The Pretoria-Based Moses Mabhida Unit
In the early evening of 15 April 1988, Odirile Meshack Maponya (aka “Mainstay Chibuku”) was driven by Peter Maluleka through central Pretoria, and they stopped on the corner of Beatrix and Church Streets. Maponya got out and Maluleka drove on towards Van der Walt Street. At around 19:30, when Maponya was a few metres in-front of the Sterland Cinema Complex, which is on the corner of Beatrix and Pretorius Streets, a bomb exploded in his hands, killing him instantly.
Although a car that was parked on the street was destroyed by the explosion, a woman who was passing-by received minor injuries, and the cinema complex was left wholly undamaged. When Maluleka heard the blast, he immediately drove back towards Beatrix Street and found the scene crowded with people. He then proceeded in the direction of Church Street, and parked in front of the Van Aswegen shop, where he placed a limpet mine of the verge of the pavement. The limpet mine exploded at about 19:45, causing some windows to break-in and resulted in slight damages on nearby properties. In this instance, there were no fatalities reported.
Meshack “Mainstay” Maponya and Rodney “Baduza” Toka had entered the country from Botswana on 2 July 1987, with Maponya being a Commander of an Umkhonto we Sizwe’s (MK) permanent internal structure to operate out of Pretoria’s satellite townships, primarily Atteridgeville. According to Toka, “When we entered the country, our m
