- Justice Minister Mmamaloko Kubayi emphasised that the death penalty has no place in South Africa’s constitutional democracy.
- The Gallows Lecture marked 30 years since the Constitution was adopted and honoured political activists who were executed under apartheid.
- Kubayi called on South Africans to protect constitutional rights as they work together to overcome poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Kubayi delivered the Gallows Lecture, titled “Death Penalty: Two systems, one that killed and one that saved,” in Gqeberha on Saturday, 11 July 2026. This event was part of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s programme marking the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.
The event followed the successful completion of the Gallows Exhumation Project. This project resulted in the exhumation, handover, and reburial of the remains of 81 political prisoners executed on death row for politically motivated offences.
Honouring the victims of apartheid
In her opening address, Kubayi paid tribute to Benjamin Mlondolozi Gxothiwe, Siphiwe Lande, Sipho Mahala, Kholisile Dyakala, Lungile Rewu, Richard Thobile Lloyd, Mnyanda Jantjies, and Mlamlie Milies, who were executed during apartheid. She stated, “We remember these heroes who lost their lives to the death penalty for their courage and determination in their uncompromising fight against oppression and injustice.”
Kubayi emphasised that South Africa’s Constitution, adopted 30 years ago, remains the foundation upon which the country builds a society based on human rights, equality, fair development, and justice. She reminded those present that democracy came at a high cost. “Those who lost their lives during the dark days of our struggle died believing that their contributions would help build a foundation for a new society,” she said.
Makwanyane changed South Africa’s legal history
Kubayi reflected on the Constitutional Court’s landmark 1995 decision in S v Makwanyane and Mchunu. She described it as the moment South Africa chose life over state-sanctioned execution.
She said, “In handing down that judgment lives were saved, a new chapter in South African law was opened, a victory for the liberation struggle was secured, and a major milestone in the journey toward a more humane and civilised society was marked.”
Kubayi noted that the judgment ended capital punishment and replaced a system “that killed” with one “that saved.” She explained that while the Interim Constitution included a Bill of Rights, it did not specifically address the death penalty.
This left it to the Constitutional Court to decide if capital punishment aligned with the values of the new South Africa. “In many ways, the court was tasked with defining the future South Africa we wanted to create,” she said.
Apartheid used executions to suppress liberation
Kubayi distinguished between claims that the death penalty deters violent crime and the way apartheid used executions to silence political dissent. She noted that political prisoners and trade unionists were sentenced to death for their involvement in the liberation struggle, and many executions were conducted in secret.
“At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it was revealed that 95% of those sentenced to death under apartheid were black, while all those handing down the sentences were white,” she pointed out. Kubayi stated that the Gallows Exhumation Project had restored dignity to families by recovering and returning the remains of political prisoners whose bodies had been treated as property of the apartheid state.
She recalled that after Nelson Mandela’s release in 1990, more than 70 political prisoners still remained on death row. Although the Pretoria Minute, signed by the apartheid government and the ANC in August 1990, cleared the way for their release, many were only freed after sustained protests inside and outside South Africa.
Quoting Paula McBride, the wife of former ANC guerrilla Robert McBride, Kubayi said the death penalty was “a gross human rights violation.” She expressed hope that it would “never, ever, again come back onto our statute books because it brutalises not only those who are sentenced, but those who sentence them. It brutalises our whole country.”
Kubayi said McBride’s words illustrated that capital punishment harms society as a whole and has no place in a constitutional democracy.
Constitution protects the right to life
Kubayi also referenced former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson’s unanimous judgment. He found that carrying out a death sentence destroys life, violates human dignity, and constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.
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