Mohammed Iqbal Shaik was born in Vrededorp, Johannesburg on 26 August 1958. He became politically active when he was a student leader at the M.L. Sultan Technical College. During 1982 he, together with Mohammed Ismail, travelled to Swaziland where he met Aboobaker Ismail who he had known since his youth. He joined Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and received training in the use of and maintenance of firearms and limpet mines. He and Ismail were established as the Dolphin Unit. He received instructions on what constituted legitimate targets. The mandate given to the Dolphin Unit was to reconnoitre and attack government buildings, economic installations, homeland government structures, police or security force personnel or buildings and also to carry out attacks in order to achieve maximum propaganda.
Thereafter he carried out a number of attacks. Mohammed and Ismail worked together on thirteen operations until 1985 when Ismail left the Dolphin Unit. He thereafter continued to operate alone. During or about July 1986 he went to the German Democratic Republic for further military training. On his return he continued to operate alone as a member of the Dolphin Unit. He was involved in sabotage operations until March 1988, the last operation being the attack on the Krugersdorp Magistrates' Court. Shaik participated in all the operations, which were carried out by the Dolphin Unit. All of the operations are mentioned above. He reported all operations to his commander, Aboobaker Ismail.
After the bombing at the Krugersdorp Magistrates' Court the applicant continued serving MK in the Ordnance Division until its formal disbandment in December 1992. During this period he was involved in receiving and distributing weapons.
The Applicant has made a full disclosure of all of his activities as a member of MK and we are satisfied that all the operations carried out by him as a member of the Dolphin Unit and all his actions as a member of Ordnance were committed with a political objective. He stressed in his evidence that in all the operations he was mindful of the fact that civilian casualties should be avoided and, at worst, kept to a minimum.