CoCT/2009/8.2

This memorial marks the location where Michael Miranda (11) Shaun Magmoed (15) and Jonathan Claasen (21) were killed and thirteen children and two adults were wounded in a South African security force ambush on 15 October 1985 This was a site of intense political resistance to apartheid. On that day, a railway delivery truck driven by security force members dressed to resemble South African Transport Service employees slowly drove up, then down Thornton Road. Hidden in wooden crates in the back of the vehicle was a security task force that included South African Railway Police, South African Police and South African Defence Force. At the corner of Thorton and St Simons Roads, where a group of protesters and curious onlookers had gathered, the truck was stoned. The next moment security task force members emerged from hiding and without warning, fired into the crowd with automatic shotguns loaded mostly with lethal ammunition. This brutal ambush was documented by an intemational film crew and was broadcast worldwide that same evening, outraging viewers, and increasing international support to end of calculated apartheid state violence.At the conclusion of the inquest into the deaths in March 1988, the magistrate ruled that the police action had been “unreasonable” and found the 13 man task force responsible for the deaths. The case was referred to the Attorney-General of the Cape but he refused to prosecute them. The families of the deceased then launched a private prosecution, the first of its kind in South African legal history, but were unsuccessful and all 13 men involved in the shooting were acquitted in December 1989. Of the twenty 28 youths indiscriminately arrested on the day of the shootings, 13 were prosecuted by the state for public violence but were discharged for lack of sufficient evidence. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) held a special hearing on the Trojan Horse incident on 20 & 21 May 1997. Family and eye-witnesses presented testimonies. Four security task force members who were subpoenaed to give evidence, refused to depart from their written statements. They also did not express any apology or remorse for their role in the brutal ambush. The messages “Remember The Trojan Horse Massacre - Shaun, Michael, Jonathan — 1985” and below it “Stop State Violence” spray-painted on the wall shortly after the shootings and incorporated in this memorial help us to remember the sacrifices individuals and communities have made for our freedom. This Memorial was officially unveiled by the Executive Mayor of The City of Cape Town, Alderman Nomaindia Mfeketo, 24 September 2005,