The fatal aircrash and investigations
Main article: 1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash
On October 19, 1986 Samora Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, in the presidential Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft, when the plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains, near Mbuzini, South-Africa. There were ten survivors,[10] but President Machel and thirty-three others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government.
The Margo Commission, set up by the South African government, but which included high-level international representation,[citation needed] investigated the incident and concluded that the accident was caused by pilot error.[10] Despite the acceptance of its findings by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the report was rejected by the Mozambican and Soviet governments. The latter submitted a minority report suggesting that the aircraft was intentionally lured off course by a decoy radio navigation beacon set up specifically for this purpose by the South Africans. Speculation about the accident has therefore continued to the present day, particularly in Mozambique.[11]
Hans Louw, a Civil Cooperation Bureau operative, claims to have assisted in Machel's death.[12][13] Pik Botha, South African foreign affairs minister at the time, who later joined the ANC, said that the investigation into the plane crash should be re-opened.[14]
In his memoirs, Jacinto Veloso, one of Machel