A South African High Court on Monday reopened an inquest into the deaths of four anti-apartheid activists known as the Cradock Four.

The inquest, held in the city of Gqeberha in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, marks the third inquiry into the activists’ deaths.

Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto, and Sicelo Mhlauli were four anti-apartheid activists abducted and killed by South African police near Cradock in the Eastern Cape in June 1985.

A 1987 inquest found the Cradock Four had been killed by “unknown persons” and “no one was to blame,” while a second inquest in 1993 concluded the police were responsible, but no one was prosecuted.

'Gross failure' of investigation

In January, apartheid-era crime survivors and families of the victims sued President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government in the Pretoria High Court, seeking damages for the “gross failure” of investigation and prosecution over apartheid crimes.

“There hasn’t been any deliberate delays in prosecuting or even bringing the cases that relates to apartheid crimes into court,” justice minister said at the Gqeberha High Court, according to national broadcaster SABC.

Apartheid was a system of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 to 1994, where the white minority oppressed the non-white majority through discriminatory laws.

South Africa ended decades of apartheid rule in 1994 with its first multiracial election, which saw the governing African National Congress (ANC) party, led by Nelson Mandela, emerge victorious and establish a democratic government.