1 The Commission had considerable success in uncovering violations that took place before 1990. This was not true of the 1990s period. Information before the Commission shows that the nature and pattern of political conflict in this later period changed considerably, particularly in its apparent anonymity. A comparatively smaller number of amnesty applications were received for this period. The investigation and research units of the Commission were also faced with some difficulty in dealing with the events of the more recent past.

2 Two factors dominated the period 1990–94. The first was the process of negotiations aimed at democratic constitutional dispensation. The second was a dramatic escalation in levels of violence in the country, with a consequent increase in the number of gross violations of human rights.

3 The period opened with the public announcement of major political reforms by President FW de Klerk on 2 February 1990 – including the unbanning of the ANC, PAC, SACP and fifty-eight other organisations; the release of political prisoners and provision for all exiles to return home. Mr Nelson Mandela was released on 11 February 1990. The other goals were achieved through a series of bilateral negotiations between the government and the ANC, resulting in the Groote Schuur and Pretoria minutes of May and August 1990 respectively. The latter minute was accompanied by the ANC’s announcement that it had suspended its armed struggle.

4 A long period of ‘talks about talks’ followed – primarily between the government, the ANC and Inkatha – culminating in the December 1991 launch of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA). CODESA, which involved twenty different political parties and organisations, collapsed in disagreement over issues of majority rule and regional powers. In May 1992, talks resumed with CODESA II. However, barely a month later, the ANC withdrew in the wake of the Boipatong massacre of 17 June 1992 and embarked on a campaign against the remaining homeland governments. Talks resumed five months later, after the signing by the ANC, PAC and the government of a Record of Understanding.

5 The Record of Understanding marked a shift in the National Party (NP) government’s negotiating strategy. It abandoned its de facto alliance with the IFP, through which it had hoped to secure enough electoral support to force a power-sharing arrangement with the ANC. Instead, the ANC and the government now co-operated closely while the IFP aligned itself with a coalition of bantustan governments and elements of the white right wing. This latter grouping ultimately coalesced into the Concerned South Africans Group (COSAG) which, in July 1993, walked out of the talks and formed the Freedom Alliance. This development saw a further escalation in the level of violence. With the IFP’s chief negotiator threatening a civil war if the elections went ahead without the IFP, deaths from political violence in July and August 1993 soared to 605 and 705 respectively, compared to 267 in June 1993.

6 In December 1993, a Transitional Executive Council (TEC) was installed, composed of representatives of all parties to the negotiations process. Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes talks continued with the Freedom Alliance to secure its participation. This was achieved shortly before the 27 April 1994 election.

7 Of 9 043 statements received on killings, over half of these (5 695) occurred during the 1990 to 1994 period. These figures give an indication of violations recorded by the Commission during the negotiations process. They represent a pattern of violation, rather than an accurate reflection of levels of violence and human rights abuses. Sources other than the Commission have reported that, from the start of the negotiations in mid-1990 to the election in April 1994, some 14 000 South Africans died in politically related incidents. While Commission figures for reported violations in the earlier part of its mandate period are under-represented in part because of the passage of time, they are under-reported in this later period because the abuses are still fresh in people’s memories and closely linked into current distribution of power.

8 The violence during the 1990s stemmed from intensification in the levels of conflict and civil war in KwaZulu/Natal. While the province had been plagued for five years by a low-level civil conflict, conflict intensified dramatically in the 1990s. The Human Rights Committee (HRC) estimates that, between July 1990 and June 1993, an average of 101 people died per month in politically related incidents – a total of 3 653 deaths. In the period July 1993 to April 1994, conflict steadily intensified, so that by election month it was 2.5 times its previous levels.

9 Moreover, political violence in this period extended to the PWV (Pretoria– Witwatersrand-Vereeniging) region in the Transvaal. The HRC estimates that between July 1990 and June 1993, some 4 756 people were killed in politically related violence in the PWV area. In the period immediately following the announcement of an election date, the death toll in the PWV region rose to four times its previous levels.

10 The escalation of violence coincided with the establishment of Inkatha as a national political party, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), in July 1990, and its attempts to develop a political base in the Transvaal. The development of self-defence units (SDUs) in largely ANC/UDF strongholds led to an escalation of violence in both provinces.

11 Many came to believe that a ‘hidden hand’ or ‘third force’ lay behind the random violence, which included military-style attacks on trains, drive-by shootings and a series of massacres and assassinations. The train violence swept the Rand from 1990 onwards. By June 1993 it had caused some 400 deaths and countless more injuries, and left thousands of commuters consumed with fear on a daily basis. Such attacks frequently generated further violence.

12 At this time, there was also a marked increase in attacks on police officers. Between July 1991 and June 1992, the HRC recorded a total of sixty-eight police officers killed. A further 200 deaths were recorded between July 1992 and June 1993.

13 Violence also arose from the continued use of lethal force in public order policing. The HRC estimated that killings by the security forces, primarily in the course of public order policing, numbered 518 between July 1991 and June 1993. In the first major incident, less than six weeks after President de Klerk’s speech, seventeen people died and 447 were injured when police fired without warning on a crowd of 50 000 protesters at Sebokeng. Other massacres occurred in Sebokeng in July and September 1990 and in Daveyton and Alexandra townships in March 1991.

14 This was also APLA’s most active period. A wave of military attacks was visited on largely civilian targets, primarily in the western and eastern Cape, as well as attacks on farmers in the Orange Free State.

15 Right-wing organisations were also active and vocal during this period, expressing their resistance to the changing political order. The right wing was responsible for several random attacks on black people as well as a more focused campaign of bombings before the elections in April 1994.

16 The term ‘third force’ began to be used increasingly to describe apparently random violence that could not be ascribed to political conflict between identifiable competing groups. Rather it appeared to involve covert forces intent on escalating violence as a means of derailing the negotiations process.

17 At about this time FW de Klerk appointed the Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation headed by Judge Richard Goldstone. Initial reports of the Goldstone Commission found no evidence of a ‘third force’. While there were many criticisms of the manner in which the security forces were dealing with the situation, the Commission pointed to high levels of political intolerance as well as wider-ranging socio-economic conditions as the primary causes of violent conflict. Notwithstanding Goldstone’s findings, non-government organisations, including violence monitoring groups, and a number of national newspapers continued to allege the presence of a ‘third force’ in the violence. Allegations of security force involvement in the violence reached a climax with the Boipatong massacre.

18 In November 1992, during a Goldstone raid on the offices of the Directorate of Covert Collections (DCC), evidence emerged of security force involvement in illegal activities. President de Klerk responded by appointing General Pierre Steyn, assisted by General Conradie of the SAP, to conduct an investigation into the activities of certain military units.

19 General Steyn based his investigation on two investigative initiatives already underway and reported to President de Klerk and senior members of his cabinet on 20 December 1992. The substance of this report was that components of the South African Defence Force (SADF) – DCC, Army Intelligence, Special Forces and the 7th Medical Battalion – were involved in a wide range of illegal and/or unauthorised activity. These included the establishment of arms caches and springboards for attacks; an attempt to overthrow General Bantu Holomisa’s government in the Transkei; the planting of weapons in Swaziland to discredit the ANC; corruption of DCC members in relation to arms deals; the selective leaking of information to right-wing groups; involvement in a chemical attack on FRELIMO, and corruption for personal gain.

20 In addition, he concluded that the security forces (and specifically 5 Reconnaissance Regiment) were probably involved in train violence; that there was probably a Chemical and Biological Warfare programme, as well as a probable attempt to get CCB operative Danie Phaal to distribute poisoned beer to Zulu-speakers in the Transkei. Strong allegations were also made of further unlawful and/or unauthorised actions.

21 General Steyn indicated, however, that the intelligence was not sufficiently refined to stand up in court because of the extensive destruction of documents and other evidence, concern over the safety of sources, the fear that those implicated would resort to murder if they felt threatened, and the fact that many role-players protected each other.

22 De Klerk was given a staff report compiled for General Steyn by the SADF’s Chief Directorate of Counter Intelligence. SADF chief General ‘Kat’ Liebenberg, army chief General Georg Meiring and chief of staff intelligence, General CP van der Westhuizen, were called to Tuynhuys and asked to draw up a list of people against whom action should be taken. Their list included General Thirion whom the Steyn report specifically recommended for exemption from action, and excluded other names – including those of the three generals who drew up the list – against whom the Steyn report had recommended that action should be taken.

23 The following day, De Klerk issued a statement saying that six top-ranking officials had been placed on compulsory early retirement and sixteen on compulsory leave pending further investigation. By the end of December, fifteen of the twenty-three had been cleared of possible links to illegal or criminal actions. It was announced that a board of enquiry would be constituted to examine possible illegal and/or criminal or unauthorised actions involving three SADF and four civilian members.

24 The Steyn documents were handed over to a team of investigators consisting of the Attorneys-General of the Witwatersrand and the Transvaal, the SAP and the Auditor-General, under the direction of Transvaal Attorney-General Jan D’Oliviera. Some of the allegations were referred to the Goldstone Commission for further investigation.

25 Steyn himself took early retirement in October 1993, at the age of fifty-one. His last progress report submitted to the Minister of Defence noted that few, if any, of the suspects had been questioned and that there had been little progress in gathering evidence.

26 In addition to Steyn Commission allegations in respect of taxi and train violence, the Goldstone Commission investigated a number of allegations of the involvement of a ‘third force’ in the conflict. These included the planning or instigation of acts of violence by the SAP in the Vaal area; the presence of RENAMO soldiers in KwaZulu; the existence of a ‘third force’ as alleged by the Vrye Weekblad on 30 October 1992; the existence of SADF front companies; the training by the SADF of Inkatha supporters in 1986 and of the ‘Black Cats’, and the involvement by elements within the SAP, the KwaZulu Police (KZP) and the IFP in criminal political violence.

27 The Goldstone findings initially rejected the notion of a ‘third force’ or ‘hidden hand’. However, in his March 1994 report, "Criminal political violence by elements within the SAP, the KZP and the Inkatha Freedom Party", Goldstone alleged that the SAP were engaged in arming the IFP and pointed to attempts by senior police officers to subvert the Goldstone enquiry.

28 The Goldstone Commission submitted its final report in October 1994, some six months after the first democratic elections and the end of this Commission’s mandate period. While the overall levels of violence dropped dramatically in the post-election period, allegations of sinister forces continued in relation to ongoing violence in KwaZulu-Natal.

29 The commission of gross violations of human rights by state security forces, homeland structures, the right wing and liberation movements are dealt with below.

31 The majority of torture victims were short-term detainees, frequently arrested in connection with public unrest. Analysis of human rights violations statements indicates a far greater incidence of torture in rural areas and small towns than in the major urban centres. A possible explanation is the wide support enjoyed by the right wing in non-urban areas. The overwhelming majority of torture victims in this period continued to be those allied to the ANC and the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM). The Commission received fewer than ten statements from members of the IFP alleging torture at the hands of the South African security forces in the 1990s. Even taking into account the fact that fewer IFP victims came to the Commission, the disparity is marked.

32 The Commission received human rights violations statements from two members of right-wing organisations who were victims of torture. Phillipus Cornelius Kloppers [JB06109/03WR and AM4627/97], member of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) was arrested in January 1994 in connection with the roadblock killings of December 1993 on the Ventersdorp/Randfontein Road (see below), in respect of which he also applied for amnesty. He was blindfolded, bound, ‘tubed’ (suffocated with a tube) and subjected to electric shock treatment. Kloppers claims to have been denied medical treatment for nineteen months and to have lost 75 per cent of the mobility in his neck.

33 Mr Leonard Michael Veenendal [KZN/Mr/146/NC], a member of the Orde Boerevolk and an alleged NIS source, was detained under section 29 in July 1990. He was handcuffed and had his legs bound in chains and a balaclava pulled over his head. He was taken to a farm where he was assaulted with fists on his face and stomach until he vomited. During the night he was taken to an office and further beaten by askaris. On another occasion, he was told to undress and was bound to a chair. Three live wires were attached to his armpit, toes and genitals and he was subjected to electric shocks until he lost consciousness. After being revived with cold water, he was told to stand but was too weak to do so. His torturers then urinated over him. Veenendal was eventually released after a seventy-six day hunger strike.

34 An amnesty application was also received from a security police officer, Roelof Venter [AM2774/96], relating to the detention and ‘intimidation’ of a number of high-profile members of right-wing organisations.

35 The Complaints Investigation Unit of the Peace Accord raided the headquarters of the Internal Stability Unit (ISU) at Vosloorus in 1993 after the ANC had won an order restraining ISU members from assaulting and torturing people. Electric shock equipment and rubber tubing were found. In May 1994, after the first democratic election, Dutch observers discovered a machine for administering electric shock at the Vaal Riot and Crime Investigation Unit. According to the submission of the HRC, at least three people died in custody for security-related offences. They were Mr Clayton Sizwe Sithole, who is alleged to have committed suicide while held at John Vorster Square; Mr Lucas Tlhotlhomisang, who is alleged to have died from meningitis while held in Klerksdorp; and Mr Donald Thabela Madisha, who is said to have hanged himself at the Potgietersrus police station. In addition, there were a number of other cases of death in custody. A special investigation task team was set up in July 1991 to investigate the activities of police at the Welverdiend police station on the West Rand, dubbed the ‘House of Horrors,’ following numerous accounts of torture and assault and the deaths of some seventeen people in custody. Victims included sixteen-year-old Nixon Phiri and fifteen-year-old Eugene Mbulawa (see Volume Three).

WHILE THEY FALL OUTSIDE ITS MANDATE PERIOD, THE COMMISSION NOTES WITH CONCERN THE ONGOING REPORTS OF TORTURE AND DEATHS IN CUSTODY, WHICH HAVE REACHED ALARMING LEVELS. AS NOTED IN THE PREVIOUS SECTION, TORTURE OF SUSPECTS IN CRIMINAL CASES PRECEDED THE USE OF TORTURE OF POLITICAL DETAINEES. IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED THAT SUCH METHODS WERE AND ARE ROUTINE METHODS IN POLICE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND TO A LARGE DEGREE REPLACE ROUTINE INVESTIGATIVE WORK. THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS THAT THE POLICE SERVICES UNDERTAKE URGENT MEASURES TO HALT THESE PRACTICES.

36 There was little change in the policing of demonstrations after 1990. Unrest and deaths continued to occur as a result of the use of deadly force. The following graphs indicate violations recorded by the Commission. While not reaching the same level as the 1984–87 period, killings by the SAP increased significantly between 1989 (the year of the Defiance Campaign) and 1990 and remained at relatively high and constant levels until the end of 1993. The breakdown reveals that over 600 of the SAP killings were the result of shooting. As the number of assassinations by known/identified security force personnel during this period was relatively small, most of these shootings would have arisen in public order policing situations.

37 In one incident which took place on 26 March 1990, police opened fire on a crowd of 50 000 people marching to Vereeniging to present a list of grievances. At least thirteen people died and more than 400 were injured. Many victims had been shot in the back. Police claimed to have fired in self-defence after the crowd threw stones and bottles. However, reporters present testified that they had seen no evidence of this. Participants alleged that the police had opened fire without warning. Judge Goldstone, appointed after calls for a judicial commission of enquiry, recommended that police be prosecuted. No action was taken.

38 On 19 April 1990, five youths were killed during a march at Viljoenskroon in the Orange Free State. The police gave orders to disperse, but it is alleged that, before the time had elapsed. a police officer shot into the air, causing panic among the crowd. The police then opened fire.

39 On 14 March 1991, police opened fire on a crowd of approximately 200 Daveyton residents, killing thirteen people and injuring twenty-nine. The police version was that they opened fire after they were attacked by a group which then hacked a police officer to death. A special police investigation into this incident was headed by Lieutenant General Jaap Joubert. The ANC rejected the results of Joubert’s investigation. Several months later, a judicial enquiry under Supreme Court judge, Justice B Donovan, found that the police had used excessive force in their handling of the incident. In Judge Donovan’s words:

40 The finding was referred to the Attorney-General who declined to prosecute.

41 On 8 April 1992, two women were shot dead and more than 100 injured in Phola Park following an attack on a 32 Battalion (SADF) patrol by unknown gunmen. Several women were also allegedly raped or sexually harassed during the twelve-hour raid. On 19 June 1992, an interim report of the Goldstone Commission found that more than 200 rounds had been fired and that the soldiers had acted in a manner "completely inconsistent with the function of a peacekeeping force and, in fact, became perpetrators of violence". The Commission recommended that the Battalion should not be used in any further peace-keeping duties. General Meiring, then chief of the army, responded that, while the army would act against any abuses, it would not withdraw Battalion 32 from the townships.

42 The Commission made a comprehensive finding regarding public order policing in the pre-1990 period.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT, IN THE POST-1990 PERIOD, THE APPROACH OF THE SAP TO CROWD CONTROL AND PUBLIC ORDER POLICING REMAINED LARGELY UNCHANGED AND EVIDENCE AVAILABLE TO THE COMMISSION INDICATES THAT LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE DIED AS A RESULT OF THE UNJUSTIFIED USE OF DEADLY FORCE. SUCH DEATHS ARE GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR WHICH THE SAP IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

Killings

43 During this period political opponents continued to be killed in circumstances which pointed directly to security force involvement.

44 On 22 April 1990, four members of the Chand family, Samsodien, Hajira and their two young deaf children, Amina and Ridwan, were killed, along with an unnamed security guard, in an attack on their home in Botswana. According to Colonel Eugene de Kock, the operation was authorised by Brigadier Nick Janse van Rensburg who had succeeded Schoon as head of C section. De Kock executed the operation with a team of Vlakplaas operatives. Five of the operatives involved applied for amnesty; namely, Colonel Eugene De Kock [AM0066/96], W A ‘Willie’ Nortjé [AM3764/96], Major Chappies Klopper, Douw Willemse [AM3721/96] J H Tait [AM3922/96], WW Mentz [AM 2775/96], D J Brits [AM3745/96] and Martinus Ras [AM5183/97]. Another applicant not directly involved in the operation, Izak Daniel Bosch [AM3765/96], applied for amnesty for his role in creating a decoy.

45 The Chands were victims of rivalries within the intelligence community – specifically in this case between the Western Transvaal Security Police and Military Intelligence’s Directorate of Covert Collections (DCC). According to evidence before the Commission from the section 29 hearing of Captain Hendrik Christoffel Nel in the late 1980s, DCC operative Tony Oosthuizen recruited Chand as a conduit for the infiltration of PAC members and APLA guerrillas into South Africa. Chand acted as a source for the Western Transvaal Security Branch but had been "put on ice" as they felt they had the PAC in Botswana under their control.

46 According to Nel, the Western Transvaal became concerned with this disruption to their mode of operation and because they learned that some of the APLA infiltrators had "got away" Matters came to a head after Chand brought a small PAC group into the country who, when intercepted at a roadblock, engaged in a shoot-out in which fifteen police were wounded and a number of civilians killed. "The next thing Sam Chand was eliminated." Nel’s story is corroborated by other information collected by the Commission.

47 On 28 April 1990, Father Michael Lapsley [CT00654], a New Zealand citizen but long-time resident of Southern Africa, and well known for his support of the South African liberation movement, was severely injured in a parcel bomb explosion at his home in Harare, Zimbabwe. The explosive was contained in a registered package in a large manila envelope with a Dobsonville, Soweto postmark. A colleague in the room at the time, Mr Andrew Mutizwa, was slightly injured by the blast.

48 In his appearance before the Commission, Lapsley stated that the security authorities in Zimbabwe had warned him in 1988 that his name was on a South African hit list of targets for elimination. Given the recent spate of attacks on targets inside Zimbabwe, the warning was taken seriously and Lapsley was given a twenty-four-hour guard and warned not to open large packages. After the unbannings in South Africa in February 1990 and a statement by General Malan that there would be no further attacks in the front-line states, the protection was relaxed. The Lapsley case is the last known incident of an attempted cross-border or external killing in the mandate period.

49 Christoffel Nel, who had no direct knowledge of this operation, confirmed that Lapsley had been a DCC ‘target’ (for intelligence attention and not necessarily killing) since 1987, and that whenever

50 The one question that puzzled Nel was the timing of the operation – post-February 1990 – which made him feel that it was neither a DCC nor Special Forces/CCB operation. Joe Verster [AM5471/97], the CCB’s general manager who appeared before the Commission, deviated only once from his position that he would not discuss external operations when, under oath, he denied that Lapsley was a CCB project.

51 Nel speculated that the Lapsley bombing was possibly a NIS operation. He argued strongly that NIS had an operational division with a strong presence in Zimbabwe. Its key operative, Danie du Plessis, was said to have had an intimate knowledge of the situation, particularly in relation to what was known as the ‘white left’. There is other supporting evidence that NIS monitored Lapsley closely. The Commission received source reports on Lapsley dated 29 January and 8 May 1990.

52 The HRC recorded large numbers of political assassinations during the early 1990s, the victims of which were largely office-bearers of the newly unbanned ANC, MK members or members of allied organisations. The security forces were allegedly responsible for several of these – including the deaths of Mr Scelo Msomi, Dr Henry Vika Luthuli, Mr Michael Mcetywa and the attempted killing of Mr Bheki Mlangeni.

53 According to the MK integration list, Mr Scelo Msomi [KZN/NN/340/DN] was killed by askaris in South Africa in 1990. Msomi had been in Tanzania in exile since 1986 and returned for an operation in June 1990.

54 Dr Henry Luthuli [KZN/SS/013/DN] was gunned down in his surgery in Esikhawini on 2 August 1990. The investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Derrick Ntuli, arrested a Vlakplaas member, Constable Thembinkosi Dube, for the killing. Ntuli was later taken off the case and subsequently died in mysterious circumstances. (Details of the case appear in Volume Three).

55 ANC chairperson in Pongola, Michael Mcetywa [KZN/HG/313/EM], was killed by local IFP member Emmanuel Mavuso [AM7921/92] on 22 November 1993. Mavuso was subsequently convicted of the murder, but evaded custody while out on bail. A co-conspirator, Mr Mdu Msibi, alleged that Mcetywa’s killing had been planned by both IFP leadership and the Piet Retief Security Branch (see Volume Three).

56 On 16 February 1991, Johannesburg lawyer Bheki Mlangeni [JB00195/016GTSOW], was killed when he activated a Walkman music cassette player at his home in Johannesburg. The intended victim was former Vlakplaas commander Captain Dirk Coetzee. Colonel Eugene de Kock [AM0066/96] applied for amnesty for this killing, along with fellow Vlakplaas members WA ‘Willie’ Nortjé [AM3764/96], ID ‘Steve’ Bosch [AM3765/96] and W Riaan Bellingan [AM5283/97] Kobus Kopper [AM3762/96] J F ‘Japie’ Kok [AM3812/96], J. ‘Kobus’Kok [AM3811/96], and then head of the security police’s technical division, Wahl du Toit [AM5184/97]. In his book A Long Night’s Damage, De Kock states that he was instructed to "make a plan" in respect of Coetzee by then C section commander, Brigadier Nick Janse van Rensburg, who also gave him Coetzee’s postal address. Coetzee had by this time joined the ANC and was in the process of debriefing the organisation on his knowledge of security police activities. He was also due to testify in a pending civil suit against the head of the SAP forensic laboratory, General Lothar Neethling.

57 De Kock said that a senior officer suggested he list Mlangeni’s name as the sender on the postal package, as he was a lawyer with whom Coetzee had been in regular touch and Coetzee would not find it irregular. The bomb was prepared by the technical division and sent to Coetzee. Coetzee was suspicious of the package and refused to accept it from the Lusaka Post Office and, after some months, it was returned to its apparent sender Bheki Mlangeni, who was killed instantly when the device in the Walkman was detonated.

58 Several killings followed the abduction and interrogation of victims. Again, the security forces are implicated in such cases, including that of Mr Johannes Sweet Sambo, Mr Mbuso Shabalala and Mr Charles Zakhele Ndaba.

59 According to information supplied by Colonel Eugene de Kock [AM0066/96], Mr Johannes Sweet Sambo died in July 1991 while being interrogated by the Komatipoort security police. De Kock was requested by the head of the Komatipoort security police to help dispose of the body and assigned four members of his unit to the task. They blew the body up with explosives at a police farm in the area called Verdracht. De Kock, JJ de Swardt [AM3750/96], Kobus Kopper [AM3762/96] applied for amnesty for this killing. In his trial, De Kock received a six-year sentence for defeating the ends of justice by arranging for the disposal of the body. Later, three members of the Komatipoort police were charged with the killing.

60 Mr Mbuso Shabalala [KZN/NNN/138/PS], an Operation Vula operative, and Mr Charles Zakhele Ndaba [KZN/NN/076/DN] disappeared in KwaMashu in July 1990. Shabalala’s car was later found in Camperdown cut into pieces. According to amnesty applicants General ‘Bertus’ Steyn [AM4513/97] and HJP ‘Hentie’ Botha [AM4117/97], Shabalala and Ndaba were detained for about seven days before being killed at the Tugela River mouth on 14 July 1990. Their bodies were thrown into the Tugela River. The applications implicate two high-ranking police officers. Other officers who have applied for amnesty in this case are SJG du Preez [AM4130/96], LG Wasserman [AM4508/96] and CA ‘Cassie’ van der Westhuizen [AM4388/96].

61 On 26 March 1992, Mr Khona Khabela, Mr Tiisetso (Tiso) Leballo [JB00241/ 01GTSOW], Mr Masilo Mama, Mr Mxolisi Ntshaota and Mr Lawrence Nyalende were killed near Nelspruit when the car in which they were travelling was ambushed. According to Colonel Eugene de Kock, he had been persuaded that a group led by Leballo was planning to rob a bank to build up the ANC’s election funds. Leballo was known to the police as Winnie Mandela’s former driver and a trained ANC member. Leballo was not in the vehicle but was reportedly picked up by Vlakplaas members soon afterwards and killed. De Kock was convicted for his role in these killings. During the trial, evidence was led that the motive for the ambush was not political but financial. De Kock [AM0066/96] applied for amnesty, along with Rolf Dieter Gevers [AM3752/96], Deon Gouws [AM3759/96], JJ de Swardt [AM3750/96], Ben Burger van Zyl [AM7722/97], JHP Hanekom [AM3886/96].

62 Members of the security forces were also responsible for deaths in custody or arising out of the process of effecting an arrest.

63 Mr Samuel Mzuga Baloi [KZN/ZJ/111/WE] was unarmed when he was killed in Gugulethu on 22 February 1990 by askaris acting under the command and with the approval of their commanders in the SAP. Officially, Baloi was found to be carrying "a grenade of foreign origin" and attempted to flee when confronted by the police.

64 Constable Alfred Benjamin Bambatha, a disaffected SAP member who had earlier been in charge of a group of askaris in the Eastern Cape, told the Commission that he was equipped by his senior commander with an attaché case containing grenades and pistols with the instructions to plant these on any MK persons who were killed, in order to justify the death.

65 Mr Mthunzi Velemseni Njakazi [KZN/NN/063/DN], a returnee, was shot in the legs and chest by the Security Branch on 28 January 1991. The Durban City police called an ambulance but the Security Branch allegedly delayed the victim’s getting to hospital and he subsequently died. Police claimed that they shot Njakazi because he was attempting to steal a white woman’s bag [see AM3770/96].

66 Former security policeman Andy Taylor informed Warrant Officer Tjaart Fourie of the Security Branch that one of his askaris had been involved in a shooting incident, and instructed him to go to the scene and give assistance. Fourie took a Russian grenade to plant on the victim to cover-up the killing.

67 On 7 July 1991, Mr Madoda Mkhize [KZN/NN/162/PM] and returnee Mr Thulani Xaba were shot by police in Port Shepstone. Xaba died, but Mkhize escaped from the hospital and was shot again in Durban.

68 Mr Wellington Mbili, a nineteen-year-old MK member [KZN/AB/011/PS and KZN/NN/225/PS] died on 4 October 1993 while in police custody. He had been arrested by Transkei police for alleged possession of a firearm and transferred into the custody of the SAP at Port Shepstone for investigation into the alleged killing of a police officer in Gamalakhe on 14 August 1993. Witnesses claimed they had seen him being taken out of a police van in handcuffs in a bushy area near his home and then heard gunshots. Police claimed that two detectives had taken him to the area to recover exhibits and that Mbili, pointing into thick bush, suddenly produced a grenade. One police officer fired a shot in self-defence, and the grenade exploded killing Mbili instantly.

70 Members of the security forces were also responsible for some killings within their own ranks. The order to kill askari Brian Ngqulunga, who had testified at the Harms Commission on the killing of Mr Griffiths Mxenge in Durban, allegedly came from a senior officer at Security Branch headquarters with the full knowledge of his superior. Willem Riaan ‘Balletijies’ Bellingan [AM5283/97], Pieter Hendrik Botha [AM5458/97], Colonel Eugene de Kock [AM0066/96], Captain Willem Wouter Mentz [AM2775/96] and Willem Albertus ‘Willie’ Nortjé [AM3764/96] applied for amnesty for the killing.

71 In their applications, they report that a fellow askari, Mr Simon Radebe, was assigned the task of befriending Ngqulunga. On 19 July 1990, Radebe took Ngqulunga to the Skurwebergpad near Vlakplaas, where he handed him over to Dave Baker, W Riaan Bellingan, Pieter Hendrik Botha and Captain Wouter Mentz, who tied him up and hit him till he was unconscious. They then drove him to Bophuthatswana where Bellingan shot him. Nortjé and De Kock then met them in Pretoria and drove to Johannesburg where they spent the night in order to create an alibi.

72 Askari Goodwill Neville Sikhakane [KZN/MR/011/DN] was killed near Greytown on 21 January 1991. Colonel Eugene de Kock, Dawid "Duiwel" Brits [AM 3745/96], JJ ‘Blackie’ de Swardt [AM3750/96], Larry Hanton [AM4076/96] and Willie Nortjé [AM3764/96] applied for amnesty for his killing.

73 Andy Taylor claimed that he suspected that Sikhakane was a double agent, and so supplied him with false information. This information got back to Taylor via other sources in Swaziland, proving Sikhakane was indeed assisting the ANC. A senior Security Branch general instructed Taylor to kill Sikhakane, but to use outside people to do so. Taylor contacted Eugene de Kock and the Vlakplaas operatives killed him a few days later. The authorisation by high-ranking Security Branch personnel is confirmed in the published account by De Kock who implicates both General ‘Bertus’ Steyn, then Officer Commanding the Port Natal Security Branch, and the then head of the C section, General Krappies Engelbrecht. Nortjé allegedly received a cash bonus of R2 000 after the operation.

74 Mr Johannes Temba Mabotha, allegedly a trained MK member, was arrested at Potgietersrus and became an askari. He was assigned to work with former Koevoet member Colonel Jan Daniel Potgieter at the Soweto Intelligence Unit, and apparently became involved with the Mandela United Football Club. It is not clear whether this was part of his work as an askari. At some stage, Mabotha’s loyalty was questioned and, following a meeting with Vlakplaas members, he was taken to a farm and interrogated. According to De Kock, Mabotha was tortured so severely that he could not be released and was handed over to the Security Branch at Soweto and kept there until his injuries had healed.

75 De Kock claims that, when Mabotha was due for release, he was asked "to make a plan". Potgieter handed Mabotha over to Vlakplaas operatives and they took him to the Penge mine where he was again interrogated. Mabotha was then taken to the bottom of a quarry on the premises. De Kock continues:

76 Members of Vlakplaas then repeatedly detonated explosives until there were no remains left.

77 Amnesty applicants in respect of this incident include Captain Willem Wouter Mentz [AM2775/96]; Sergeant Dawid Jacobus ‘Duiwel’ Brits [AM3745/96]; Colonel Eugene De Kock [AM0066/96]; and Colonel Jan Daniel Potgieter [AM5418/97]. While De Kock and Mentz give 1992 as the date of the incident, Brits and Potgieter claim that it took place on 4 October 1989.

THE COMMISSION MADE COMPREHENSIVE FINDINGS IN RESPECT OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS IN THE PRE-1990 PERIOD.

EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COMMISSION INDICATES THAT, IN THE POST-1990 PERIOD, THE SAP CONTINUED TO CARRY OUT EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS AND ATTEMPTED KILLINGS, BOTH INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY. TARGETS INCLUDED HIGH-PROFILE POLITICAL ACTIVISTS PREDOMINANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ANC. THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT SUCH EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS TOOK THE FORM OF ASSASSINATION, AMBUSHES AND ENTRAPMENT KILLINGS, KILLINGS AND ATTEMPTED KILLINGS BY WAY OF PARCEL BOMBS. THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT THESE ACTS CONSTITUTED GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR WHICH THE SAP ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

78 On 8 October 1993, five sleeping youths including two twelve-year-old children were shot dead in a SADF raid on an alleged APLA base at the Mpendulo residence in the Northcrest suburb of Umtata. A press statement released by the then Minister of Defence HJ ‘Kobie’ Coetsee a week later stated that the raid was based on intelligence provided by three suspects in detention. Ostensibly the raid was to pre-empt attacks on civilians by APLA operatives, allegedly using the Transkei as a base from which to launch such attacks.

79 General Georg Meiring, chief of the army at the time of the attack, said in a section 29 investigative enquiry that more than fifty APLA attacks had been launched across the Transkei border in the period preceding October 1993 and that the role of the Transkei in providing both a safe haven for the APLA high command and APLA operatives, and in providing military training, had been confirmed by a Goldstone Commission enquiry. The State Security Council (SSC) had discussed the situation in August 1993. During September, the SADF received information from the SAP regarding the use of the Mpendulo residence as an APLA arms facility and base from which attacks in the Eastern and Western Cape were launched. According to this intelligence, some eighteen APLA operatives stayed at the house.

80 General Meiring indicated that he relied on then director of operations Brigadier Castleman, and a senior staff officer for intelligence, Colonel Gibson for the planning of the operation. With the approval of Minister Coetsee, an army reconnaissance mission was launched on 2 October 1993. This confirmed the SAP’s intelligence but, on Meiring’s admission, was unable to confirm whether weapons were indeed stored there. Further, the reconnaissance mission withdrew at approximately 20h00 on 7 October, hours after authority had been given "to conduct a limited strike on the house" in order "to neutralise the target". This authorisation emanated from a meeting of the SSC attended by, inter alia, Ministers Kriel, Coetsee, Pik Botha and then State President FW de Klerk.

81 The strike was conducted by the 45 Parachute Brigade, under the command of Colonel Hannes Venter. According to Meiring,

82 Asked to explain what he meant by "hostilely", Meiring said that one of the youths had sat up with a weapon in his hand. While the operatives had been given instructions to incur minimum loss of life, they were also told to avoid endangering themselves and, in this respect, had a license to shoot. Asked whether such a license included a license to shoot to kill, Meiring replied: "...a soldier is never trained [to do] anything but shoot to kill. There is no way of asking how to shoot, you shoot for effect if you do shoot". The police docket indicates that seventy-eight cartridges and twenty-six projectiles were found in the house. Four of the five victims were shot in the head.

83 After the shooting, a few weapons were allegedly found, together with some documentation. However, while the attacking team confirmed the existence of a reinforced storage room outside, supposedly for weapons, the expected weapons cache did not materialise. Further, in the furore that followed the raid, lawyers for the family arranged for an international US forensic expert to examine the seized weapons. The SADF has thus far failed to produce such weapons.

84 The following people were killed in the raid: Mzwandile Mfeya (12 years), Sandiso Yose (12 years), twins Samora and Sadat Mpendulo (16 years) and Thando Mtembu (17 years).

85 In 1995, the Government of National Unity issued the following statement, drawn up according to Minister of Justice Dullah Omar in consultation with President Mandela and Deputy President FW de Klerk:

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT THE KILLING OF THE FIVE YOUTHS IN THE SO-CALLED UMTATA RAID WAS A GROSS VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR WHICH THE FORMER SSC AND THE FORMER SADF ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. IN PARTICULAR, THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE RECONNAISSANCE TEAM SOME EIGHT HOURS BEFORE THE OPERATION MEANT THAT THE SADF HAD NO REAL WAY OF KNOWING WHO WAS IN THE HOUSE AT THE TIME OF THE RAID AND REGARDS THIS AS GROSSLY NEGLIGENT. THE COMMISSION FURTHER FINDS THAT THE FAILURE OF THE SADF TO PRODUCE THE WEAPONS ALLEGEDLY SEIZED IN THE HOUSE FOR INDEPENDENT FORENSIC EXAMINATION CASTS DOUBT ON THE EXISTENCE OF THE SAID WEAPONS.

86 Allegations of police complicity in the violence that plagued pre-election South Africa included both the failure to act against perpetrators of violence as well as the provision of tacit or active support for one side of the conflict.

87 By August 1990, there were ongoing tensions between residents of Khalanyoni Hostel and the Phola Park squatter camp in Thokoza. These tensions came to a head shortly after the IFP launched a recruitment drive. After non-IFP members fled the hostel, residents from Phola Park attacked the hostel, destroying it brick by brick. The SAP’s initial response was that the conflict was a factional one and that they would "not get involved in a political fight" between Xhosa and Zulus.

88 In Sebokeng, twenty-three people were killed in an initial attack and a further fifteen people in a subsequent attack by the SADF which opened fire on a crowd on 3 September 1990. (Sebokeng had also been the scene of a massacre in March 1990.) The first attack on the Sebokeng hostel was carried out by Inkatha supporters, armed with guns, hand grenades, home-made bombs, spears and axes and was an attempt by those who had been evicted from the hostel in July to regain their former residence. In the conflict that ensued, residents of Sebokeng trapped the attackers in a block in the hostel. The police managed to keep the opposing forces apart, thus preventing further casualties.

89 The second attack occurred when members of the SADF opened fire without provocation on a crowd which had gathered outside the hostel and was demanding that police wait for the arrival of ANC leaders before they proceed to remove the attackers, at that time holed up in the hostel (see further Volume Three). Although a judicial enquiry found that the SADF members had displayed unprofessional behaviour, no action was taken against them.

90 The actions of the Khetisi gang, led by Mr Victor ‘Khetisi’ Kheswa, are covered in some detail in Volume Three. Initially little more than a criminal gang, the Khetisi gang appears to have begun a rein of terror in Sebokeng appears to have begun when Kheswa established links with the IFP, giving him access to arms. The gang members were arrested for their involvement in the Nangalembe night vigil massacre on 12 January 1991, but were eventually acquitted due to lack of evidence.

91 Vaal police officer Masoli Meshack Mahlatsi stated in an affidavit that Kheswa and his gang were often detained in the police cells but received special food and treatment. He claimed that Kheswa often said that he and his gang were working together with the police. Further evidence of a link is the fact that Kheswa is known to have watched the proceedings of the funeral of ANC leader Ernest Sotsu’s family from a police Casspir, despite the fact that he was widely believed to be the perpetrator of their killing. Kheswa eventually died under uncertain circumstances while under arrest in connection with the killing of nineteen people in Sebokeng in April 1993 and sixteen people in Sebokeng and Evaton in June 1993.

92 Mahlatsi indicated that, on the day Kheswa died, he was threatening to speak of his links with the police. Another member of the Khetisi gang, Mr Daniel Mabothe, a suspect in the Boipatong massacre, died shortly thereafter, having been struck by the car of Kheswa’s arresting officer, Detective Sergeant Peens. At the time, and against the judge’s instructions, Mabothe and three other suspects was being transported to take part in an identification parade. The dockets concerning the deaths of Kheswa and Mabote have, according to the SAPS, ‘gone missing.’

93 On 12 May 1991, twenty-seven people were killed and scores were injured in a pre-dawn attack on Swanieville informal settlement by approximately a thousand IFP hostel-dwellers from Kagiso. There were numerous allegations of police complicity in the attack. These included an allegation that the attackers had been escorted by armoured police vehicles as they made their way to Kagiso; that residents had been advised by the police to go to sleep early and stay off the streets; and that the police had confiscated weapons from Swanieville residents during a raid the previous day, while making no attempt to halt or disarm the attackers during the attack; and that balaclava-clad white men were among the attackers. The police were also alleged to have escorted the attackers back to their hostel. Police did not deny this but stated that this was to prevent a further attack on Kagiso residents.

94 Several IFP members were arrested, but subsequently acquitted owing to a lack of evidence. In his judgement Judge CJ Botha said that the fact that so few had been brought to trial was a "scandal". The judge noted the police’s failure to call in the video unit, thus making positive identification of attackers difficult. The judge noted further that such actions reinforced public criticism and speculation about the role of the police.

95 At least forty-five people were killed in the night attack on Boipatong on 17 June 1992, allegedly launched from KwaMadala hostel in the Vaal. A number of witnesses reported that white men were part of at least one group of attackers. The monitoring organisation Peace Action noted that police failed to act on warnings of the impending attack (see further Volume Three).

96 After the Sebokeng massacre, an independent police team was appointed by Goldstone to assess the SAP’s response to and subsequent investigation of the incident. The team, headed by Dr PA Waddington, produced a report that was highly critical of the police investigation into the massacre, describing it as "woefully inadequate in a number of respects". However Waddington ascribed this to "an absence of suitable organisational structures to facilitate effective policing" and said that "omissions arose not from deliberation, but incompetence".

97 The Goldstone Commission of Inquiry set up in the wake of the massacre had to suspend its work when crucial tapes recorded in the Vereeniging command office of the Internal Stability Unit at the time of the massacre were mysteriously wiped blank. The SAP’s Major Davidson attributed the erasure of the tapes to "a technical problem I am unable to explain". The carefully worded report of British intelligence specialists said the superimposition of material on the recordings "may not have been accidental" and that "the technical evidence suggests that this may have been done deliberately and hurriedly to obscure the contents".

98 In March 1994, seventeen KwaMadala hostel residents were convicted and sentenced to prison terms of between ten and fifteen years on various charges of murder, attempted murder, and public violence in connection with the Boipatong massacre. They were subsequently released on bail pending the outcome of an appeal against their convictions in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein When the trial began in 1993, the were seventy-four accused. Charges against sixty-three of the accused, some of whom became state witnesses, were withdrawn during the course of the trial and eleven people were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

99 In the course of the trial of the KwaMadala residents, SAP Lieutenant D C van der Merwe told the court that his superior officer, a Major van Wyk (who has since retired), ordered the destruction of eight 9mm bullet shells and bullet heads which had been found at the scene of the massacre. Van der Merwe told the court that he could not tell whether the eight shells and heads were standard police issue. He said that, as far as he knew, the shells and heads had never been subjected to ballistic tests.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT, IN THEIR APPROACH TO THE PREVENTION AND INVESTIGATION OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE, THE SAP WAS BIASED IN FAVOUR OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY AND THAT THEIR FAILURE TO INTERVENE IN AND TO PROPERLY INVESTIGATE SUCH VIOLENCE LED TO LARGE NUMBERS OF GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND STRENGTHENED THE PREVAILING CULTURE OF IMPUNITY. THE SAP IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS THAT RESULTED FROM THEIR ACTIONS.

100 The March 1994 Goldstone report into criminal acts committed by members of the SAP, the KZP and the IFP implicated senior policemen not only in the supply of weapons to the IFP, but in attempts to thwart the Goldstone investigation into the issue. Subsequent evidence in the State vs Eugene de Kock and before this Commission corroborates the fact that the SAP, largely through Vlakplaas operatives, supplied the IFP with a considerable amount of weaponry during the 1990s. The Commission received a number of amnesty applications in connection with the supply and manufacture of weaponry for the IFP, including those of WA ‘Willie’ Nortjé [AM3764/96], AJ ‘Brood’ van Heerden [AM3763/96], WW Mentz [AM2775/96] and Eugene de Kock [AM0066/96]. Further applications were received from IFP recipients of some of these weapons.

101 Evidence before the Commission reveals that much of the weaponry supplied to the IFP was originally acquired from Koevoet, a Security Branch counter-insurgency unit based in Namibia. Many of the members based at Vlakplaas had previously been members of Koevoet. Several members of Vlakplaas applied for amnesty for the transport of weapons from Namibia to Vlakplaas. It would appear that this occurred on the orders of Brigadier Schoon on at least four occasions during the mid- to late 1980s. The weapons came from the stores of Koevoet as well as the SADF’s Oshivelo base in Namibia. They included AK-47s and ammunition, M26 and Russian hand grenades and explosives, SADF explosives, Russian and SADF limpet mines, light machine guns, SAM7s, mortars, RPG pipes and ammunition, and various other items.

102 The initial link with the IFP was made during 1990 by a former Vlakplaas operative Andries (Brood) van Heerden, who had joined the security division of ABSA Bank in Johannesburg. In June 1990, Van Heerden was introduced to Mr Themba Khoza of the IFP who asked him to supply the IFP with weapons. Van Heerden then approached Colonel Eugene de Kock, and subsequently acted as the liaison person between the IFP and Vlakplaas. By De Kock’s admission, he initially took on this role without higher authorisation, but says:

103 Later, De Kock had a discussion with Major General Krappies Engelbrecht and Major General Nick Janse van Rensburg, then head of Section C, and they authorised him to manufacture home-made firearms for the IFP. After discussing the financial aspects with General Basie Smit, Janse van Rensburg told De Kock to make false claims sufficient to make 100 home-made weapons. De Kock then telephoned Snor Vermeulen and Daniel Snyman and they arranged to have the weapons designed and made. The cost of the weapons was about R60 000. One hundred weapons were distributed to Themba Khoza and Jac Büchner, then commissioner of the KZP.

104 According to the amnesty application of Mr Derek Rausch, he assisted Vlakplaas members Lionel Snyman and Snor Vermeulen to make home-made explosive devices. Rausch, a precision engineer and an ex-Rhodesian police officer (BSAP) had an engineering shop next to Mechem, a subsidiary of Armscor and frequently worked for them. Rausch bought the material and Lionel Snyman and Snor Vermeulen provided the explosives to build the explosive devices from Vlakplaas stores. In his amnesty application, Johann Verster stated that, on instruction from his superior at Mechem, he provided Snyman and Vermeulen with three tons of 107mm Chinese rockets and explosives to be used in the manufacture of home-made pipe bombs and hand grenades and that he assisted in their manufacture at Snyman’s house. According to Verster, these explosives were intended for Inkatha.

105 Later Snyman and Vermeulen again approached Rausch to assist them in making home-made shotguns. Joe Verster of Mechem assisted with this project and Snyman told him that Basie Smit approved of the project. They made approximately 200 shotguns. According to Verster, Snyman later told him that General Le Roux was present when the prototype was tested and was very happy with the results. Both Rausch and Verster were told that the guns were intended for Inkatha. In his amnesty application, Douw Willemse stated that he assisted Snor Vermeulen and Lionel Snyman to test home-made weapons, on the instruction of De Kock.

106 Johann Verster also assisted Vermeulen and Snyman by removing identification marks from M26 hand grenades by painting them with black paint. Interviews with Vlakplaas members revealed that the hand grenades were modified in the following fashion: all the serial numbers were taken off, they were painted black and a piece of gut was connected between the hand grenade lever and the hand grenade in order to keep the lever close to the explosive point and destroy it completely.

107 Similarly, Rausch assisted in modifying AK-47s for the police. According to interviews with Vlakplaas members, some of the AK-47s given to Themba Khoza as well as those kept at Mechem were modified: they were shortened by removing the butts to make them easier to carry and conceal. Some of the AK-47s barrels were shortened, serial numbers were welded over and then ground off.

108 When De Kock realised that Khoza was only the youth leader of the IFP, he asked to meet Mr Humphrey Ndlovu, IFP leader in the Transvaal and an IFP Minister. He and Willie Nortjé met Mr Victor Ndlovu, Mr Themba Khoza, Mr Humphrey Ndlovu and the Reverend Celani Mthetwa at Brood van Heerden’s home. It was agreed that one last batch of weapons, including two or three home-made explosive devices, made by Snyman, Vermeulen and Verster, would be given to Khoza.

109 According to Van Heerden, several further meetings were held and attended by Colonel De Kock, Warrant Officer Willie Nortjé, then Lieutenant Chappies Klopper, Lieutenant Piet Botha and Sergeant Charlie Chate from Vlakpaas. Minister C J Mthetwa (IFP KwaZulu Natal), Themba Khoza, Humphrey Ndlovu, Ms Dlomo, Viktor Ndlovu and James Ndlovu attended on behalf of the IFP.

110 Nortjé obtained weapons from De Kock on a regular basis and delivered them to the above-mentioned IFP members. The weapons delivered included: M26 hand grenades, black M26 hand grenades, AK-47s, SKS machine guns, home-made shotguns, R4s, Makarov and Tokarev pistols, landmines, a magnetised car bomb and a variety of ammunition. De Kock further states in his application that between twenty-four and thirty black hand grenades and AK-47s were taken by De Kock and Nortjé to Revd Mthethwa’s house in Natal, and on a second occasion another six or eight AK-47s plus ammunition were similarly delivered. On at least one other occasion, De Kock handed pistols to Mthetwa in Johannesburg.

111 Van Heerden claims that in 1993 he and Mthetwa were responsible for the formation of a self-protection plan in which the Johannesburg mid-city and all the IFP hostels were divided into self-protection teams. A copy of this plan is with the office of the Attorney-General in Gauteng and allegations of a similar nature appear in the Staff Report compiled by the Steyn investigation.

112 All the weapons and ammunition in the possession of Themba Khoza were distributed to the IFP hostels. An IFP supporting induna was identified in each hostel as the person who would distribute the weapons to IFP supporters. In addition, groups like the ‘Black Cats’ also received weaponry.

113 Some IFP members who applied for amnesty corroborate the above allegations. They include Mr David Zweli Dlamini [AM3685/96] a Caprivi trainee and hit squad member, Mr Bhekisa Alex Khumalo (aka Sosha) [AM4027/96], Mr Mhlupheni Petros Khumalo [AM2780/96] Mr Phupha Philemon Hlela [2779/96], Mr Israel Hlongwane [AM4600/97] and Mr Daluxolo Luthuli [AM4018/96].

114 Themba Khoza was arrested with a car load of weapons at the scene of the Sebokeng massacre in September 1990 and charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. Despite apparently strong evidence, charges against him were dropped, primarily because no fingerprints were found on any of the weapons, making it impossible to link them to any of the attackers. In addition, the court accepted Khoza’s explanation that he had handed the keys of the car over to another IFP member and there was therefore a possibility that somebody else could have placed the weapons in the vehicle.

115 Subsequent amnesty applications indicate that Vlakplaas operatives Brood van Heerden and Willie Nortjie supplied Khoza with weapons which were used in the Sebokeng massacre, including AK-47s, black hand grenades and home-made bombs. Vlakplaas operative Willie Nortjé stated that the weapons used in the massacre were tampered with so that they could not be linked to the crime by forensics testing. Two Vaal policemen, Arthur John van der Gryp [AM4373/96], a warrant officer in the special Unrest Investigation Unit created to investigate political violence, and head of the Vaal Security Branch Jacobus Francois Conradie [AM4123/96], both admitted to removing and tampering with evidence in order to secure Khoza’s release. The car in which the weapons were found at the scene of the Sebokeng massacre was also allegedly supplied by Vlakplaas. Khoza’s bail money was supplied by Vlakplaas.

116 According to Colonel Eugene de Kock, he delivered six ten-ton truckloads of sophisticated weaponry to Mr Philip Powell for use in the self-protection unit (SPU) training project in KwaZulu-Natal. De Kock and Powell had been introduced by members of the Durban Security Branch. De Kock asked Jac Büchner whether Powell was somebody "he could walk the road with" and Büchner stated that he could be trusted.

117 De Kock met Powell on two further occasions and arrangements were made for the supply of weapons to the SPU project. A Mechem official, Joe Verster, notes that De Kock telephoned him and told him that he wanted the weapons he had stored at Mechem and any further weaponry available. Theo van Dyk (manager at Mechem) gave permission for De Kock to collect the weapons.

118 De Kock obtained access to Mechem stores in October 1993 and collected

119 At the time, De Kock was no longer in the employ of the SAP. He told the Commission that he had used an old police ID card to get into the gate and that no one knew he was no longer in the SAP.

120 At the same time as the weapons were delivered to Powell, Vermeulen, other Vlakplaas members and askaris went to Mlaba camp to assist with training in their use. Vermeulen stated that he was paid between R5 000 and R7 000 for the training and that Powell told him that the money had been obtained from a co-owner of a Zulu newspaper. Later, General Krappies Engelbrecht told him not to do any further training. He said he himself felt that the training had a political flavour, that he was training a private army and was not prepared to continue.

121 Acting on information received from Mr Israel Hlongwane in January 1994, a joint TEC/SAP raid was carried out on the Mlaba camp on 26 April 1994. A large quantity of weapons and ammunition was found in a rondawel at the camp, including twenty-six M26 hand grenades, five rifle grenades, seventy-six G-3 rifles, forty-nine shotguns and a large amount of ammunition. These weapons, together with a large number of documents, were seized. According to the SANDF, the hand grenades and detonators were SADF issue.

122 During the raid, Phillip Powell’s vehicle was searched and two boxes of ammunition (.222 and shotgun rounds), a Ruger semi automatic firearm and a 9mm pistol were discovered. Concealed under his front seat was a ‘home-made’ shotgun. One of the musketry instructors, Sergeant Obed Zwelihle Nxumalo, identified the home-made firearm as belonging to Powell. Powell himself claimed that the firearm was found in one of the buses leaving the Mlaba camp and that he had intended to hand it into the Ulundi police station. He also claimed that he did not have any knowledge of the grenades found at the camp and had possession of the armoury key only for a short period on 27 and 28 April. Natal Attorney-General Tim McNally said that there was insufficient evidence to rebut Powell’s explanation in respect of the firearm and decided not to prosecute. Eugene De Kock was subsequently charged on various counts related to the illegal possession of weaponry transported to Powell and convicted.

123 According to De Kock, he kept a register of the recipients of weapons and ammunition but handed this to General Krappies Engelbrecht before his arrest. De Kock also claimed that he had given General Steyn of Durban a complete list of all the firearms given to Themba Khoza. This is confirmed by Rausch who states that "Eugene told me that he was ordered by the Generals to destroy all of [the documentation] which we did".

THE AMNESTY APPLICATIONS RELATING TO THE SUPPLY OF WEAPONS BY THE SAP TO THE IFP HAVE AT THIS STAGE NOT BEEN HEARD AND THE COMMISSION IS THUS UNABLE TO MAKE A FINDING ON THIS ISSUE. HOWEVER, SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE IS AVAILABLE FOR THE COMMISSION TO MAKE A FINDING THAT FORMER SAP OPERATIVES PROVIDED SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF UNLICENSED HEAVY WEAPONRY, EXPLOSIVES AND AMMUNITION TO SENIOR MEMBERS OF THE IFP IN THE POST-1990 PERIOD.

124 Evidence before the Goldstone Commission revealed that Phola Park SDU member Michael Phama was a police informer and had been instrumental in planning and carrying out the attack on IFP supporters on 8 September 1991, in which eighteen IFP supporters were killed (see Volume Three).

125 In Khayelitsha, Cape Town, the conflict between witdoeke and an ANC SDU was exacerbated when the ANC denied the SDU access to weaponry in an attempt to control the violence. A former witdoek leader Mr Prince Gobingca, who has been found by the Commission to have worked for both the Security Branch and Military Intelligence, established a relationship with the SDU in September 1993 and provided weaponry and other assistance in order to facilitate their attacks on ANC members (see Volume Three).

126 In Richmond, the Security Branch recruited both of the key protagonists in the conflict – Sifiso Nkabinde (ANC) and David Ntombela (IFP) (see Volume Three)

127 The reluctance of the intelligence community to reveal the names of past sources was a great hindrance to the Commission. Without identifying who was working for whom, the Commission was limited in its ability to uncover the dynamics and causes of violent conflict within communities.

128 Train violence first emerged in July 1990 with a series of attacks on commuters travelling on the Johannesburg–Soweto line, which left one person dead, and approximately thirty injured. Between 1990 and 1993, approximately 572 people were to die in more than 600 incidents of train violence. Only three people were convicted. Two applied to the Commission for amnesty.

129 Over time, the violence developed a momentum of its own. Unplanned group attacks and individual killings became more frequent than planned, orchestrated incidents involving large groups of people. Most early attacks were characterised by large groups of men (up to 300), often dressed in red headbands and using anything from iron rods to automatic weapons. Gunmen would open fire from train station platforms or spray commuters with bullets from inside coaches.

130 Young and old, male and female and supporters of all political parties fell victim to the violence, suggesting that it aimed at causing general terror rather than at achieving a clear political objective.

131 Amnesty applicants to the Commission seem to support this thesis. However, there were points at which the connection between negotiations and an escalation of train violence appears clear. The launching of Inkatha as a national political party and the suspension of the armed struggle by the ANC in July 1990 and the announcement of a date for elections in July 1993 saw a general rise in political violence.

133 A special investigation unit of the Goldstone Commission could not substantiate Ndimene’s allegations. It ultimately found that the 51 Kommando named by Ndimene was at a legitimate clandestine internal (to the Eastern Transvaal) operation at the time of the Benrose massacre. It further found that most members who had allegedly been involved in the Jeppe attack were in the Phalaborwa camp at the time of the attack. However, a former senior Goldstone investigator told the Commission that he believed that this did not necessarily disprove Ndimene’s allegations as Special Forces often operate in small groups of three to four men. The investigator believed it was possible that a small unit of 5RR could have been deployed covertly to conduct train operations. Further evidence to the Commission indicated that a senior commander in 5RR confirmed to an intelligence service that members of the unit were involved in such violence. A former deputy chief of staff intelligence expressed the view that the randomness of the attacks combined with their military precision pointed to people with Special Forces training.

134 SAP member Wayne Hugh Swanepoel, who applied for amnesty [AM3727/96], stated that he and others in his unit were involved in throwing people from the trains around 1988 "in an attempt to cause the ANC and the IFP to blame each other". During such actions, they wore balaclavas and those parts of their skin that were exposed were painted. Afterwards, they would go to the scene of the crime "to make sure they were dead" and his own unit would investigate the case. He claimed that the people who assisted them were paid by the CCB, and that the orders came "from inside the security police and higher up".

135 Former Vlakplaas askari Joe Mamasela alleged in the New Nation in March 1997 that Eikenhof farm in the Vaal area was used to house alleged train killers. Mamasela’s testimony was confirmed by an ex-police officer referred to by New Nation as ‘Mandla’. Mandla stated that he and other Vlakplaas members were not allowed access to those they suspected to be train attackers and that they suspected that the attackers were foreigners; they "were very dark and spoke bad English", and that the men would be armed with R5 rifles and 9mm weapons.

136 A statement by Mr Xola Frank ‘Jimmy’ Mbane, enclosed in the files of amnesty applicants Thapelo Johannes Mbelo [AM3785/96] and Wilhelm Riaan Bellingan [AM5283/97], alleged that most of the briefings for train operations took place at Vlakplaas. He said that his train squad consisted of himself, Khayo, Sylvester, Mvelase, Shushe, Joss and Kilino. The last-named served as commander and paid the others R1 000 after successful operations.

137 The Commission was not been able to confirm the above allegations, some of which will be further pursued in amnesty hearings.

138 The effects of the watershed in South African politics following the February 1990 unbannings was also felt in the homelands. Throughout the years of CODESA I and II, as well as the multi-party talks at the World Trade Centre, homeland leaders and their political parties manoeuvred between the dominant players in the negotiations, including the ANC, the NP and various white conservative groupings. Driven by their own agendas, homeland governments took – and when necessary changed – sides in an attempt to position themselves in a post-apartheid South Africa. Foremost on these agendas was the issue of homeland re-incorporation into South Africa.

139 Two important events in the homelands proved milestones in the larger history of this period as they resonated throughout South Africa and, in turn, helped to direct the course of events in the country. The incidents occurred in homelands whose leaders had proved reluctant to surrender juridical independence and re-incorporate into South Africa. In addition, the governments in both homelands showed themselves willing to engage in political brinkmanship in order to assert their power, particularly in the face of the ANC’s increasing centrality to the negotiations.

140 In the first incident, on 7 September 1992, the ANC organised a march from South African soil to the Ciskei capital of Bisho. The march was part of a campaign to open up areas for free political activity before elections could be held. Ciskei troops opened fire on the marchers, killing thirty people including a Ciskei soldier. The incident became known as the ‘Bisho massacre’. In the wake of the Boipatong killings and the ANC’s withdrawal from CODESA, negotiations teetered on the brink of collapse. Rather than pushing the country over the precipice and into full-scale violence, the events at Bisho rather contributed to an increased determination to find a peaceful settlement on the part of most political leaders.

141 If events in the Ciskei renewed the process of negotiations, then developments in Bophuthatswana provided a visible sign of the final collapse of the politics of armed reaction. Throughout the negotiation period, President Lucas Mangope had increasingly adopted a hard-line approach to the multi-party talks and to the ANC in particular. In the end, Mangope abandoned the negotiations altogether, announcing that he was prepared to take Bophuthatswana into the future on its own if necessary. As the date for elections drew near and popular resistance to the Mangope government intensified, Mangope called in members of the white right wing to help quell the opposition. In March 1994, the Bophuthatswana Defence Force, in conjunction with the SADF, took action against an estimated 5 000 armed members of the AWB who had answered Mangope’s call. In the process, a film crew captured footage of a member of the BDF murder an injured white supremacist in cold blood. As the politics of white armed resistance collapsed in the wake of the AWB’s ignominious withdrawal, the footage, which was broadcast around the world, became a symbol of the inevitability of change in South Africa. South Africa took over control of Bophuthatswana, installing an interim government under the Transitional Executive Council (TEC).

142 Two weeks after the Bophuthatswana clashes, the Ciskei government collapsed. A wave of strikes by Ciskei civil servants took place, culminating in a strike by police in the homeland’s capital, Bisho during which striking policemen took senior security force officers hostage. Within days Gqozo had resigned, the SADF moved in to take control and an interim administration under the TEC was set up.

143 By 1990, the Pretoria dream of independent homelands had not only collapsed but had become a serious problem for the South African security forces. Transkei, under Holomisa, had become an area which Pretoria regarded as a liberated zone for liberation movements; this resulted in various efforts by the South African security forces over several years to oust Holomisa. Once Gqozo took over in Ciskei on 4 March 1990, just after the national unbannings, South Africa moved rapidly to turn him against the ANC when it appeared he might follow Holomisa’s example.

144 The homelands became a crucial terrain during the 1990s. While it may have suited the security forces simply to close them down by enforced early incorporation into the rest of South Africa, this would not have suited the agendas of politicians on all sides: the ANC wanted territories such as Ciskei and Bophuthatswana closed down, but needed the organisational space offered by Transkei (apparently regarded as a bolt-hole should Pretoria suddenly crack down on the newly unbanned organisations again); Pretoria wanted control over Transkei but needed some of the other homelands as "independent" allies at the negotiating table (it is worth noting here that Ciskei invariably voted with Pretoria during negotiations); the right-wing later used some of the homeland rulers (including KwaZulu’s Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Ciskei’s Gqozo and Bophuthatswana’s Lucas Mangope) as allies in the Concerned South Africans Group (COSAG), a united black and white right-wing front formed in late 1992.

145 The table below shows the percentages of types of gross violations which were reported to the Commission for this period:

147 In July 1989, Transkei arrested six heavily-armed white men who allegedly set off from South Africa, crossed the border with ease and headed to Umtata to kill Holomisa. In December 1989 two more South Africans, including a serving member of the SAP, were arrested in Transkei on similar charges. Both these attempts seem to have been part of the ongoing attempts to unseat Holomisa which culminated in the abortive Duli coup attempt of November 1990; further attempts were made after this but none seem to have got as far as Umtata. During this period, there were frequent allegations that Transkei was harbouring, training and arming MK guerrillas.

148 On 4 March 1990 officers in the Ciskei military overthrew Lennox Sebe and installed Brigadier Oupa Gqozo in his place, an action in which South African security forces were apparently not involved. It appears that Gqozo was not part of the planning for this action but was instead asked to head the new government by the officers shortly after they had taken over. In the early months Gqozo’s government allowed organisations to operate freely; however, within six months the SADF had sent in an MI unit which operated out of Ciskei and deliberately turned Gqozo against the ANC alliance.

149 In February 1991, in an ironic twist of history, Charles Sebe was shot dead by his former allies while on his way to the Bisho capital of Ciskei, apparently to overthrow Gqozo and fulfil his long-time dream of ruling Ciskei. Sebe was shot dead at a roadblock in an operation run by IR/CIS.

150 In July 1991, Gqozo announced the launching of the African Democratic Movement (ADM). Key members of this movement were linked to SADF MI and it appears that the ADM was either initiated by, or at least supported by, MI. The ADM moved closer to Inkatha and at one point Gqozo wrote to Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi suggesting they join forces under his leadership. This did not happen and the ADM eventually contested the 1994 elections in competition with Inkatha.

151 From 1991 onwards, allegations by the South African government of Transkei aid for first MK and later APLA increased, particularly after APLA stepped up its armed struggle from 1992. South Africa accused Transkei of harbouring guerrillas, arming them, training them with Cuban assistance and allowing them to use Transkei as a base for launching attacks across the border. By March 1993 the SAP had thrown a blockade around Transkei. In November 1993 the South African conflict with Transkei culminated in the SADF attacking the home of a PAC member it claimed was being used as an APLA base. Five children were killed. Also during 1993, MI started planning an attack on Transkei which targeted Holomisa and the ANC’s Chris Hani.

152 Sometime between August and October 1990, Ciskei established an intelligence unit which operated until August 1991. This unit, which was initially called International Researchers and later Ciskei Intelligence Services (IR/CIS), did not fall under either the military or the police but was described as the Ciskei equivalent of the South African National Intelligence Service and reported to Gqozo directly. Gqozo employed his former instructor at the SADF, Commandant Jan Anton Nieuwoudt, as the head of the unit. Gqozo told the Commission he was unaware that, throughout the time he was working in Ciskei, Nieuwoudt was acting on the SADF’s instructions and that IR/CIS was in fact an SADF ME front.

154 It appears that the unit’s main agenda was to bring an end to Gqozo’s good relations with the ANC alliance of the immediate post-coup days. By mid-1990 relations between Gqozo and the ANC alliance had deteriorated sharply and never recovered. The disagreements peaked in July 1991 when the Ciskei government reverted to supporting the headman system (initially abolished by the military government); a state of emergency was declared for a few weeks in November 1991 and by 1992 there was a low-scale war between Ciskei government supporters and ANC supporters which culminated in the September 1992 Bisho massacre.

155 The unit was eventually closed down in August 1991 when its operations had been exposed by CDF officers. The then Chief of the SADF General Kat Liebenberg personally travelled to Ciskei to oversee the closure. At the time of the closure the SADF reiterated its denial of links to IR/CIS.

156 In the early hours of 22 November 1990 a group of heavily armed men attacked the Transkei Defence Force’s Ncise base outside Umtata. By the end of the day, at least fifteen men from both attackers and defenders were dead, including the coup leader, some attackers had been arrested and others were on the run. The coup was led by Colonel Craig Duli, who formerly served on the Transkei military council until he fell out with the government and was detained. It was supported by the South African security forces, primarily through International Researchers-Ciskei Intelligence Services (IR-CIS).

157 The Commission received several amnesty applications from former security force members who were involved in support for this attack and/or other similar attempts to overthrow Holomisa. These included Jan Anton Nieuwoudt [AM3813/96], Eugene de Kock [AM0066/96], Daniel Lionel Snyman [AM3766/96], Leon William John Flores [AM3766/96], Nicholaas Johannes Vermeulen [AM4358/96], Willem Albertus Nortjé [AM3764/96] and Marthinus David Ras jnr [AM5183/96], all from the South African security forces, and Sydwell Mzwamadoda Ntisana [AM6359/96] of the TDF. These applications indicated that weapons were supplied at various times by the South African Police (through De Kock) for the coup attempts.

158 Following the coup attempts in Transkei, allegations of South African support for plotters and a lack of action by South African authorities in processing extradition requests, there were several instances of unlawful snatches or failed attempts to snatch suspects from South Africa. The Transkei authorities, particularly the TDF MI and/or Army Intelligence, appear to have been involved in these incidents.

159 In mid-1989, South African Foreign Affairs Minister Pik Botha accused Transkei authorities of kidnapping former TDF chief Zondwa Mtirara from South Africa. This allegedly took place in July or August following allegations of a plot to kill Holomisa. In March 1990, two Transkei security policemen were arrested by Ciskei security forces near King William’s Town; over a year later Ciskei announced that the two had admitted to being on an official mission to abduct or kill Duli or Mbotoli at the time.

160 Sometime in mid-1991, the TDF abducted key coup plotter Vulindlela Mbotoli from Johannesburg and took him to Transkei where he subsequently stood trial with the other coup plotters. This snatch was carried out with the assistance of Austrian businessman Mr Rainer Maria Moringer [AM0434/96] who said he had assisted the TDF MI since 1988.

161 In May 1991 the Transkei government passed a decree which amended the Criminal Procedure Act to allow for the prosecution of those taken across borders without their consent.

162 In late 1992, coup suspect Vulindlela Christopher Shologu disappeared from South Africa to re-appear in custody in Umtata.

163 In an abortive snatch two years later, three men apparently unconnected to the coup attempt were killed. The Commission received amnesty applications from TDF members Ntobeko William Matyolo [AM6078/97] and Mr Lungelwe Lupuwana [AM6371/97] in connection with the failed attempt to snatch Charles Wanase from his King William’s Town home on 21 May 1993. Wanase was away at the time; instead the abductors snatched three young men, Lindile Kula, Nkosinathi Tuku and Nathaniel Koto and, when they could not say where Wanase was, killed them. Both Matyolo, who was a captain in the TDF’s Army Intelligence at the time, and Lupuwana named Papama Mgudlwa [AM6081/97], a TDF source who applied for amnesty in connection with another killing, as the killer. Matyolo stated in his amnesty application they had been instructed to abduct Wanase by the then Transkei military ruler, Major General Bantu Holomisa. Both Maytolo and Lupuwana were charged with the killings in an East London court.

164 Attempts to overthrow the Transkei government did not end with the abortive Duli attempt. The following year the SADF’s Operation Abbot referred to expectations that Transkei civil servants would not be paid as usual on 15 June 1991 due to a financial crisis in that government, and drafted a plan ostensibly to deal with any violence resulting from this. The Abbot plan included a phase of initial deployment in the region, a second phase involving the closure of the Transkei border on receipt of the code-word "close-up" and the third phase involving entry of South African forces into Transkei on the code-word "sort-out". Third phase planning was done both for a scenario in which the SADF entered Transkei with that administration’s permission and a scenario in which entry was carried out without permission, involving overcoming resistance by the Transkei security forces. An armed invasion into Transkei did not take place. On 12 June, the day Abbot was scheduled to start, members of One Parachute Battalion from Bloemfontein had arrived in the region to participate in what the SADF called at the time a group command control area protection exercise which was "straightforward routine" and not part of a troop build-up.

165 SADF call-ups for this period indicate additional troop movements. There were three consecutive "detached duty" call-ups for Operation Tonto in Komga (the nearest South African town to the main southern Transkei border post) for a constant period from 3 June to 30 August 1991 – three of sixteen detached duty call-ups run by Group 8 in East London over the three years from 1989–91. There was what appears to have been an additional "monthly camp" for 8 June to 2 July to the Kaffrarian Rifles in East London. There was also an "ops duties" call-up for the East London Commando from 13 to 27 June involving one company for "Ciskei stabilisation". The availability of additional troops in the region during the Abbot time period was greater than during the period for the November 1990 Duli operation.

166 In the run-up to the expected 15 June payday crisis, there was an increase in tension between the Transkei and South African authorities, including:

167 There was also increasing concern among the security forces in June 1991 that Gqozo’s Ciskei government was on the verge of being overthrown by dissident former CDF members acting together with MK elements. Whether such a plan was in process or not, IR/CIS was submitting "Top Secret" source reports to Gqozo (and presumably also to SADF MI as was routine for IR/CIS) stating that such plans were underway.

168 It is not clear what happened to stop Abbot from going ahead. Possibly it was aborted because of the widespread rumours of a South African-sponsored attack. It is possible the Abbot plan may have been revived two years later. On 31 March 1993 the SADF and SAP threw a blockade around southern Transkei for several days, in what was widely regarded at the time as an economic blockade. This appears to fit in with the "phase two" described in the Abbot plans.

169 On the night of 27 January 1991, Ciskei rebels Charles Sebe [EC0904/96CCK] and Mangwane Onward Guzana [EC0405/96ELN] drove into Ciskei in the belief that a coup attempt was underway or had just taken place and that they were to head the new government with the support of the Ciskei troops. Guzana was a former CDF officer who had formed the military government with Gqozo until he was detained on allegations of coup plots and subsequently fled to Transkei. Here he linked up with Sebe, who had been in Transkei since his 1986 jailbreak.

170 Instead of driving into Bisho to take over the government they drove into a CDF roadblock where Guzana was shot dead. Sebe fled, was captured the following day in a nearby village and shot dead.

172 The inquest could not make a finding on how Guzana was killed, but found that Sebe’s death had been ordered by Gqozo and carried out by Veliti and others. The subsequent murder trial acquitted both Gqozo and Veliti, finding that there was no direct evidence that Veliti had fired at Sebe, that there was a reasonable doubt as to whether Sebe had been killed on the basis of an order from Gqozo, and that it was not proved that Gqozo had issued an order to kill Sebe unlawfully. The trial judge did however find that Sebe had been killed unlawfully.

173 The Commission received an amnesty application in connection with this matter from IR/CIS member Clive Brink [AM6373/97], who was stationed at the roadblock during the operation.

174 The African Democratic Movement (ADM) was set up by the Ciskei government in July 1991. As a political party led by Brigadier Gqozo, the ADM aligned itself with Inkatha and with right wing groups in the Concerned South Africans Group (COSAG).

175 Throughout its brief history, the ADM was involved in violent clashes with the ANC. After the Bisho massacre of September 1992, these clashes erupted into more overt warfare, with increasingly sophisticated weapons being used (see the Eastern Cape regional profile elsewhere in this report). The highest number of attacks appeared to have been carried out by the ANC-aligned groups.

176 By late 1991 Ciskei had hired a private security company, Peace Force, to protect government property. Peace Force was given the use of the Ciskei’s Wesley military base on the coast, where it ran brief training courses for ADM-supporting recruits. There were allegations that these recruits were then involved in violent clashes with ANC supporters.

177 In late 1993 and early 1994 there were several armed hit squad-style attacks on ANC supporters in the Ciskei. Five men were subsequently charged with murder, attempted murder and weapons charges in connection with these attacks; they were all acquitted. They were Titise Mcoyiyana (the ADM chairman), Vuyisile Madikane, Dingaan Somtsora, Mongezi Reuben Solani (a bodyguard to Gqozo) and Jeffrey Moshumi (former MK member from the Western Cape).

178 The Bisho massacre occurred on 2 September 1992 when thousands of ANC supporters, marching from King William’s Town to Bisho, capital of the ‘independent’ Ciskei were fired on by Ciskei government troops. The march had been organised in support of demands for free political activity in the Ciskei and for the removal of Brigadier Oupa Gqozo. Twenty-nine marchers died and one member of the CDF, Rifleman Vusumzi Sydney Nqabisa, was also shot dead. There were conflicting accounts of the soldier’s death in the various inquiries; however ballistics indicated he was shot with an R4 rifle.

179 The Commission received a considerable number of statements in connection with deaths and injuries sustained in this event. Two public hearings were held on this matter during 1996, with testimony from victims of the shooting, politicians (including Brigadier Oupa Gqozo) and security force members.

180 The Commission heard that shortly before the main body of the March reached the stadium, an ANC advance party arrived at the border to assess the situation. This group found the gap in the fence: as a result the ANC decided that part of the march led by ANC officials including Ronnie Kasrils and Chris Hani would go through this gap and head for Bisho. Kasrils told the Commission:

181 Kasrils said he would never have believed that the soldiers would have opened fire in this way. "I accept in a profound moral sense that I was an element in the events that culminated in the massacre, and it still haunts me that perhaps we could have done more to avoid the terrible outcome," he said.

183 Mkosana made various statements about the incident. In general, these statements confirm that he requested and received permission to open fire; however there are conflicting statements about the reasons for opening fire and the firepower used.

184 Ballistics expert Jacobus du Plessis told the Commission that nine marchers and the soldier were struck in the head and two marchers in the neck. Ten marchers were shot from behind while none of them were shot directly from the front. At least fourteen people were apparently shot while lying down or bending over. This seems to indicate that most people were shot while trying to flee. Du Plessis said that 404 cartridge cases, all from 5.56 mm bullets used in R4 rifles, were picked up at the scene. He was able to determine that these had been fired by 107 different weapons. He could not estimate how many rounds had been fired except that it was at least 404. Four rifle grenades were fired by the CDF.

185 The event is documented fully in the chapter on the Eastern Cape in Volume Three, where the Commission made a comprehensive finding on the massacre and on the role played by the Ciskei security forces and the ANC.

186 Inkatha was found to be the foremost perpetrator of gross human rights violations in KwaZulu and Natal during the 1990s. Approximately 9 000 gross human rights violations were perpetrated by Inkatha in KwaZulu and Natal from 1990 to May 1994. This constituted almost 50 per cent of all violations reported to the Commission’s Durban office for this period.

187 With the unbanning of the ANC and other affected organisations in February 1990, Inkatha’s free reign in KwaZulu and Natal was threatened. A substantial recruitment drive was initiated by the IFP after its reconstitution as a political party in July 1990.

188 Open contests for support between the two parties took the form of territorial battles for the control of communities and geographical areas, leading to frequent and widespread outbreaks of conflict and violence in the province. Tens of thousands of people were affected by the violence – suffering death, injury, maiming, bereavement and displacement on a large scale.

189 The Seven Day War in 1990 was one of the most significant events in the history of political violence in the province during the period. The Seven Day War is the collective name given to the events that occurred in the greater Edendale Valley in the greater Pietermaritzburg area in the seven days from Sunday 25 March 1990.

190 In fact, the violence took place over many more than seven days. Over 100 people were killed, some 3 000 houses were destroyed by fire and approximately 30 000 people fled their homes as a result of the violence. The vast majority of the people killed and injured were from the non-Inkatha areas, and the vast majority of the property damaged, burned and looted belonged to non-Inkatha supporters.

191 The IFP did not give the Commission an official account of its involvement in the Seven Day War. Almost every witness who appeared at the special public hearing into the Seven Day War, other than the SAP and the SADF, laid the blame for these events at the feet of IFP members. Several witnesses, who were at the time residents of the worst hit areas like KwaMnyandu, Gezubuso and Caluza, and who witnessed acts of murder and arson, said that it was a complete misnomer to refer to this event as a war. A resident of KwaMnyandu, Mr Enoch Zondi, told the Commission that it was more like "a reign of terror".

192 The thousands of Inkatha supporters who took part in the armed attacks must bear overwhelming responsibility for the gross violations of human rights that took place during that week. Nonetheless, young UDF and ANC refugees must accept responsibility for starting the conflagration when, on 25 March, they stoned and attacked buses carrying IFP supporters travelling through Edendale on their return from a rally at King’s Park, Durban. Tension mounted when leaders of the IFP made inflammatory speeches at further public gatherings of IFP supporters.

193 The Seven Day War is documented in Volume Three of this report; here the focus is on the involvement of the security forces. Some witnesses testified to watching in disbelief as police provided buckets of ammunition to the armed attacking combatants. Others described seeing uniformed and armed special constables participating on the side of Inkatha combatants, while yet others spoke of armed and uniformed KwaZulu policemen assisting Inkatha attackers. Several witnesses testified about large numbers of KwaZulu government trucks, with their registration plates obscured by sacking, conveying large numbers of men armed with traditional weapons and guns to the scene of the conflict.

194 The version given to the Commission by special constables Nelson Shabangu, Nhlanhla Philemon Madlala and Riot Unit Constable Basil Harrington described open complicity between the police and IFP forces. The Commission heard that on Wednesday 28 March 1990, IFP leader Mr David Ntombela held a meeting of Inkatha supporters at his house in the Elandskop area. After this meeting, Ntombela instructed a member of the SAP Riot Unit to pick up a large group of special constables in a police vehicle and proceed to Gezubuso. Shabangu said that he drove a Riot Unit vehicle to pick up special constables. He met up with a large Inkatha crowd, including Ntombela and went with the group to the outskirts of KwaShange. There he watched with other members of his Riot Unit while the special constables attacked, burned and looted houses at KwaShange, and returned with stolen property. This was loaded onto a police vehicle and taken to Ntombela’s home, along with cattle, which had been stolen from the residents of KwaShange. Fifteen people were killed in this attack.

195 There is evidence that police provided logistic support to Inkatha members, gave them ammunition, took part in the attacks side by side with them, refused to deploy Defence Force resources in areas where attacks were taking place, and made them available only to ensure that Inkatha members were not attacked on the Edendale road.

THE COMMISSION MADE A COMPREHENSIVE FINDING ON THE SEVEN DAY WAR AND ON THE ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE PRIMARY ROLE-PLAYERS IN A CONFLICT THAT RESULTED IN THE COMMISSION OF MANY HUNDREDS OF GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS. THE ROLE-PLAYERS INCLUDE: MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF INKATHA, INKATHA MIDLANDS LEADER, MR DAVID NTOMBELA, THE KZP, THE KWAZULU GOVERNMENT, THE RIOT UNIT OF THE SAP, INCLUDING SPECIAL CONSTABLES, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN DEFENCE FORCE. THE COMMISSION ALSO MADE A FINDING IN RESPECT OF THE PROVOCATIVE ROLE OF MEMBERS OF THE UDF IN THE CONFLICT.

196 As early as 1974, Buthelezi requested that the South African government grant firearms licences to "all chiefs for the destruction of vermin and to deserving businessmen and other Zulus of repute who need these firearms for the protection of their businesses and themselves". Again in 1985, Buthelezi approached the former government with a request for "the authority to issue licenses for the carrying of firearms".

197 In 1990, an amendment to the Natal Zulu Code of Law virtually legalised the carrying of dangerous weapons and the arming of the amaKhosi (chiefs). The department of the Chief Minister circumvented normal weapons’ licensing regulations by making automatic weapons available to state functionaries for the protection of KwaZulu government property. G-3 semi-automatic rifles were issued to chiefs and headmen through the Department of the Chief Minister. These chiefs and headmen were in turn able to issue weapons, by way of permits, to their ‘tribal police’ or ‘community guards’. By law, these weapons were to be used to protect KwaZulu government buildings and property. Evidence points to the fact that they were also put to use in clashes between ANC and IFP supporters.

198 After February 1990, township residents in the province tended to join with the ANC while hostels became the point of entry for Inkatha into the townships. Strangers entering the hostels were frequently suspected of being from the township and were killed. Similarly, hostel-dwellers travelling through the township to and from the hostels were frequently attacked by township youth.

199 In Bruntville outside Mooi River in the Natal Midlands, hostel-dwellers were predominantly Inkatha-supporting and members of the Inkatha-aligned United Workers’ Union of South Africa (UWUSA). In contrast, the Bruntville township residents were predominantly ANC-supporting and members of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

200 On 8 November 1990, sixteen township residents were killed during a massive pre-dawn attack by approximately 1 200 hostel-dwellers and other Inkatha supporters, who had been brought in especially to assist in the attack. About 1 500 people, mainly women and children, fled their homes in the aftermath of the attack.

201 Violence continued throughout the following year. Hostel-dwellers frequently paraded through the township of Bruntville with their traditional weapons. While the township residents were frequently disarmed and subjected to weapons searches by members of the security forces, the hostel-dwellers were permitted to brandish openly their traditional weapons. In October 1991, the ANC called a stay away-boycott to protest against what they perceived to be differential treatment.

202 On the night of the 3 December 1991, eighteen people were killed when large armed groups of Inkatha hostel-dwellers launched two large-scale attacks on houses and residents in the township. No prosecutions resulted and there is no evidence of an investigation having taken place.

203 Many hostels in the Transvaal were inhabited largely by migrant Zulus from rural KwaZulu who had sought employment in the mines and industries in the Transvaal. Township residents viewed them as outsiders. The hostel residents used their common ethnic identity as a means of uniting in a hostile urban environment. These Zulu migrants became a springboard for Inkatha’s attempt to penetrate the urban Transvaal and launch itself as a national political force.

204 The initial hostel-related violence in the PWV region was signalled by a series of attacks on the Sebokeng Hostel beginning on July 22 1990. The violence rapidly spread to the East Rand, Soweto, the West Rand and Alexandra township. Over 200 township residents were killed in large-scale massacres perpetrated by IFP-supporting hostel-dwellers. Hundreds more died in running street battles between IFP hostel-dwellers and ANC township residents. Examples of some of the massacres carried out by IFP hostel residents in the Transvaal include:

205 Hit squad activity became widespread in KwaZulu and Natal during the 1990s. From information received by the Commission, it would appear that the hit squad operations were predominantly supportive of the IFP, drawing in officials of the KwaZulu government, the KZP and senior politicians and leaders of the party. As such, hit squad members had access to KwaZulu government resources such as vehicles, arms and ammunition. A measure of protection from prosecution was made possible through the collusion of the KZP and instruments of the state security forces.

206 In May 1990, Colonel MA van den Berg (MI) compiled a memorandum reporting on a meeting between himself, Colonel ‘Cor’ van Niekerk (also MI) and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi on 31 October 1989. In the memorandum, Van den Berg reported that Buthelezi had expressed concern that he was "losing the armed struggle and in that regard emphasised that ‘offensive steps’ were still a necessity, meaning the deployment of ‘hit squads.’" When questioned on this passage, during a section 29 hearing, Van den Berg said he doubted that Buthelezi had used the actual words "hit squad". However, he said that he was "entirely convinced" that the offensive actions Buthelezi had in mind at this stage were indeed hit squad activities, including assassinations.

207 In the same 2 May 1990 memorandum, Van den Berg recorded that Inkatha’s Mr MZ Khumalo (codenamed Reeva) indicated that "he had not yet given up on his idea of an armed force, or at the least ‘cells’ which could take out undesirable members."

208 In the Wartburg area during 1990, a Roman Catholic priest Father Garth Michelson wrote a letter to former Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok, in which he expressed his concern that there was a police hit squad operating in the Mbava area, near Wartburg. He raised these concerns following the murder of two UDF activists, Mr Vusi Ngcobo and Mr Bonakwe Gasa [KZN/HG/922/NY], on the 6 January 1990. Vlok responded to Michelson’s letter on the 30 July 1990 as follows:

209 Ngcobo and Gasa had been shot and killed in a mealie (corn) field in Swayimane. Witnesses said that one white and three black men wearing light blue shirts similar to the SAP uniform carried out the killing. The four men were seen arriving at the home of KwaZulu MP Mr Psychology Ndlovu in a yellow police van and then proceeding from Ndlovu’s home in a white Cressida with a private registration number.

210 An informal inquest held in 1991 found that "persons unknown" were responsible for the deaths. A second inquest was held in May 1995 at which inquest magistrate RA Stewart found that former special constable Welcome Muzi Hlophe (aka ‘BigBoy’), SAP Lance Sergeant Peter Smith, KwaZulu government driver Mr Abraham Shoba and a fourth unknown man were prima facie directly responsible for the murders. He also found that the original investigating officer, Major Joseph van Zyl, was an accessory to the murders and recommended that an investigation be opened with a view to a possible conviction of Van Zyl (also implicated in the Trust Feed massacre). He further found that the then secretary of the KwaZulu Legislature, Mr Robert Mzimela (at present deputy speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal parliament), KwaZulu employee ZG Mkhize (now an IFP member of the KZN parliament) and then head of the KLA Protection Unit Major Leonard Langeni (now retired) had been implicated in a cover-up operation.

211 KwaZulu-Natal Attorney-General Tim McNally declined to prosecute any but Hlophe and Smith. He further failed to pursue any investigations in respect of the other findings made by the inquest court. Hlophe and Smith were subsequently acquitted in the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court.

212 Politically motivated violence between supporters of the ANC and Inkatha erupted in 1991 in the Esikhawini area near Richards Bay. A meeting was called at KZP Captain Leonard Langeni’s office in Ulundi some time in early 1991. At the time, Langeni was the officer commanding the then KwaZulu Legislative Assembly Protection Unit. Others present at the meeting were Mr Daluxolo Luthuli, Prince Gideon Zulu (then KwaZulu Minister of Pensions), Mr M R Mzimela (then Secretary of the KwaZulu Legislature), and Mr M Z Khumalo (then personal assistant to Buthelezi). It was agreed that a group of reliable, trained operatives would be brought together to undertake operations directed at targeted members of the political opposition, members and supporters of the UDF and ANC.

213 Caprivi Trainee Gcina Mkhize was the first to be conscripted into this group. He testified that he was told that "the time had arrived to use the skills acquired at the Caprivi" and he was instructed to work directly with the mayor of Esikhawini, Mr BB Biyela, and IFP councillor Ms Lindiwe Mbuyazi. He was to report directly to Major Langeni and Daluxolo Luthuli. Mkhize was told to gather reliable people to assist him.

214 Initially, the plan was that he would assist Ink