The first hearing looking into the mysterious death of Samora Machel begins

The Margo Commission, set up by the South African government to probe the mysterious death of Mozambican president Samora Machel, started its first hearing at the Rand Supreme Court in Johannesburg. Machel's plane crashed in Mbuzini near Komatipoort, where the borders of Mozambique and Swaziland and South Africa meet. The Mozambican president was returning from a meeting of African leaders held in Lusaka, Zambia when his plane crashed. The fact that it chrashed over South African territory raised some questions about the possibilities of the involvement of the apartheid government. 

The commission had subpoenaed several witnesses, including members of the SA Military Intelligence. Based on evidence gathered from the black box of the plane and military intelligence, the Margo Commission concluded that the aircraft was airworthy and fully serviced and that there was no evidence of sabotage or external forces involved. This conclusion was disputed by a subsequent report of the Soviet and Mozambican Medical investigations.