The survivors of the Highgate Hotel massacre 32 years ago have vowed to continue looking for answers as the inquest into the deaths in the May 1993 pub attack ended inconclusively.
Judge Denzil Potgieter found that the involvement of the apartheid government’s Hammer Unit “remains a possibility”.
The inquest, which started in January 2025, was held to establish whether anyone should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of Stanley Hacking, Douglas Gates, Royce Wheeler, Deon Harris and Deric Whitfield.
They were all shot with assault rifles.
The identity of the perpetrators — two balaclava-clad gunmen — remains unknown, save that “they were probably members of a renegade covert group within apartheid forces, seemingly intent on derailing the political transition at the time, who staged the attack to falsely implicate [the PAC armed wing] Apla”.
The seven survivors — Neville Beling, Karl Weber, William Baling, Megan Boucher, Nkosinathi Gontshi, Doreen Rossouw and Charles Bodington — all suffered life-altering wounds.
Its consequences were lethal, having virtually destroyed the lives of the many affected parties who are left without any real redress.
— Judge Denzil Potgieter
Delivering his finding in the East London Special Tribunal Court on Monday, Potgieter concluded even though the attack counted “among the most devastating incidents of its nature at the time, we are nowhere closer to complete answers more than 30 years later”.
He said the attack had been “meticulously planned and callously executed with the precision of highly trained operatives”.
“Its consequences were lethal, having virtually destroyed the lives of the many affected parties who are left without any real redress.
“The many examples of bungling, lapses, failures and neglect in dealing with the matter are fully documented …
“This includes improperly investigated crime scenes, failure to lift fingerprints from cartridges and grenade levers, missing elimination prints, lost ballistic and fingerprint evidence, incomplete statements linking photo parades, dormancy of the docket for over 11 years, and unexplained, lengthy investigative delays showing complete lack of urgency.
“The state of affairs is simply shameful, and the main reason why this matter has seemingly landed in a dead-end … and but for these blunders, the investigation may have solved this brutal crime, particularly if forensic evidence had been properly collected, safeguarded and tested.
“This incredibly gross incompetence inevitably gives rise to the suspicion that the investigation was designed to fail.”
Potgieter said the attack was more than likely a “false flag operation, partly intended to wrongly implicate Apla”.
“The remaining narratives can be safely discounted, save that the involvement of the Hammer Unit remains a possibility.
“It cannot presently be put higher than that. In my considered view, the involvement of elements within the apartheid security forces is more probable than not.”
Weber said if the case had been properly investigated in 1993 the results would have been different.
He blamed the state for bungling the case.
“It was a cover-up from the state …
“We will carry on looking for suspects … The judge did say the inquest can be reopened.”
Beling said: “We will wait to speak to our legal team and find a way forward from here.”
Lyndene Page, Harris’s sister, said: “We are not going to give up because of what happened today. We haven’t given up for 32 years.
We are going to find the answers."
Dr Theresa Eldmann, who has been assisting the families in their quest for justice, said hearing the ruling was a relief.
“An inquest should have been held in 1993.
“Tragically, the survivors who have passed on due to their injuries didn’t get to see this day.”
Before the ruling, the court heard the family representatives had found further information which pointed to another survivor who was shot in the leg.
Potgieter gave a directive to investigating officer Captain Vaughn Peterson to follow up on the information.
Daily Dispatch
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