South Africa and Mozambique to honor Samora Machel 40 years after plane crash death. Here's why

South Africa and Mozambique will hold a joint ceremony on Monday in Mbuzini, in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province near the crash site, to mark 40 years since Mozambican leader Samora Machel died in a mysterious plane crash. Machel, who led Mozambique after independence from Portuguese rule in 1975 until his death in 1986, was killed on Oct. 18, 1986, when the aircraft crashed into the Lebombo mountains as he returned from a meeting of regional leaders in Zambia. A South Africa-led inquiry blamed the pilots and dismissed foul play, while Mozambique believed the crash was arranged by South Africa. Their Soviet-era aircraft manufacturer reports and later South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not settle the dispute.