# President Cyril Ramaphosa has apologised and acknowledged a constitutional failure in not addressing the litigation by Simon Mofokeng and the late Tshokolo Joseph Mokoena. The two spent 19 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted for the 1992 murder of a police officer in the Free State. Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that Ramaphosa and three of his predecessors, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Jacob Zuma, failed in their constitutional obligations by delaying a joint presidential pardon application for 24 years. Ramaphosa says the delay was “deeply regrettable”.
Ramaphosa acknowledges constitutional failure over 24-year delay in Mofokeng and Mokoena’s pardon