Site of 31 July 1985 Mount Ruth Fire Fight with Security Services

According to MK in Combat, 18, the skirmish took place on the old highway between King William’s Town and East London on 31 July 1985. A SAP police was shot dead and another was wounded. Two MK combatant – known as Lucas and Eldridge – were killed. 427 In other reports it was claimed SA security forces clashed with ‘a heavily armed gang’ and a SA security police man and two ANC cadres were killed. The police claimed to have seized a silenced AK47 and several limpet mines and that the cadres were on their way to EL’s main power station when Ciskei intelligence tipped them off. In court proceedings in which the women in Mdantsane who sheltered them, Ms Nontutuzelo Ndlazulwana of Zone 9 (charged with harbouring ANC guerrillas), it was revealed the shootout happened near the Mount Ruth railway station. Ciskei security police later seized 3 limpet mines and documents from the house. The report indicates 3 men died and 2 were wounded in the shootout.