H'berg: 'Suspicions not enough'
2001-05-09 23:18
Johannesburg - Transport Minister Dullah Omar said that while he was suspicious about the events leading to the Helderberg crash in 1987, this was not enough to reopen the inquiry.
"It must be remembered that the Helderberg took place at the height of the apartheid era and the apartheid government, and its henchmen resorted to all kinds of methods to achieve its objectives with no regard to human life", Omar said.
He said the decision on reopening the inquiry would only be considered after the findings of a review into fresh allegations on the cause of the disaster had been presented to Cabinet.
Transport spokesperson Mike Mabasa could not say when the report by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions would be finalised.
Omar's statement follows a call on May 1 by family members of 159 victims for a fresh investigation into the crash into the Indian Ocean 160km from Mauritius in 1987.
They also expressed concern that the Civil Aviation Authority was involved in investigating alleged serious shortfalls in the investigation by its predecessor the Directorate of Civil Aviation.
Mabasa said this did not follow as the two organisations differed totally from each other.
'A lot of hearsay and no concrete evidence'
Omar said: "I am very suspicious, and that at the moment there is a lot of hearsay and no concrete evidence. We are mindful of the concerns raised by relatives and families of the victims."
On Monday, the Democratic Alliance also called on government to reopen the investigation.
Omar confirmed that he was aware of the many allegations and suspicions with regard to the cargo on the plane, which caught fire, the possible complexities of certain people and what had happened to the voice recordings.
An inquiry into the crash in the 1980s, headed by Judge Cecil Margo, concluded that no blame could be apportioned and that was no evidence to establish the cause of the fire.
In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held hearings behind closed doors about the plane crash.
The TRC report said its investigation into the matter "raised significant questions about the incident as well as the subsequent investigations that were conducted".
It found that nothing in the cargo's inventory could have resulted in a fire, and that there was no reliable list of what cargo was being transported when it crashed.
Omar said the Cabinet desired total transparency and wanted "to pursue the matter to ensure we get to the truth".
On Saturday the Helderberg Truth Committee, formed by victim's family members, called for a boycott of South African Airways.
This followed claims that the airways carried explosives on board some of its flights during the time of the Helderberg crash. - Sapa