January 16, 1997
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has established conclusively the existence of a written report produced by General Pierre Steyn's 1992 investigations into intelligence activity in the former South African Defence Force.
The TRC's Research Department has established that while, technically speaking, there was no formal report produced by General Steyn, his verbal briefing of former President F W de Klerk and senior members of his Cabinet was substantiated by a "staff report" comprising written notes and a diagram. The report was made available to Mr de Klerk.
General Steyn, now Secretary of Defence, has provided the Research Department with a large file containing information, including the "staff report".
The attached briefing from the Research Department summarises its work so far. Of particular note are:
1. The fact that Mr De Klerk's drastic action in dismissing or retiring a range of military personnel in December 1992 was taken without the full investigation which General Steyn had recommended in his report;
2. General Steyn's concern at the lack of progress in investigations carried out after the dismissals and compulsory retirements, and his view that the SAP and SADF at the time were spending more time on cover-ups and identifying leaks than gathering evidence;
3. The fact that documents were destroyed throughout his investigation, in defiance of his orders;
4. That intelligence gathered by General Steyn's inquiries indicated significant unauthorised and unlawful actions, involving not only the Directorate of Covert Collection of the SADF but several other components of the force.
The Research Department is continuing its work in this area. The Commission will not release General Steyn's report for two reasons:
1. More than 60 names of individuals are listed in the documentation that General Steyn made available to the Research Department, and allegations against many have not been substantiated.
2. The Commission is concerned that its investigations should not be prejudiced before they are completed.
BASIS OF MEDIA BRIEFING ON THE MEETING BETWEEN GEN PIERRE STEYN AND THE TRC (Compiled by TRC Research Department; attribute to Prof Charles Villa-Vicencio, Director of Research)
The TRC approached General Pierre Steyn, now Secretary of Defence, to make known to it the nature and substance of his briefing of Former President FW de Klerk on his investigation into intelligence activities in the SADF and whether the Directorate of Covert Collection contravened the law or government policy.
General Steyn briefed members of the TRC on 10 October 1996, providing the TRC with a file, containing information gathered during his enquiry. Included in the file was a "staff report" ("Stafgeskrif") comprising notes and a matrix (diagram) containing activities, components and the names of individuals in the SADF suspected of engaging in unauthorised and/or unlawful actions. These notes and the matrix were used in the verbal briefing of the former President and senior members of his Cabinet in December 1992, and were made available to the President. The substance of this report was that intelligence gathered indicated significant unauthorised and unlawful actions, involving several components of the SADF and the SAP, and not just the Directorate of Covert Collection (DCC). However, this remained at the level of intelligence information and General Steyn strongly recommended that the former President appoint an immediate criminal investigation either to substantiate or deny the information which he had placed at the former President's disposal.
The former President handed the document to Generals Kat Liebenberg, George Meiring and Joffel van der Westhuizen soon after receiving it, requiring them to provide him with a list of persons who should be dismissed or retired from the SADF. The investigation recommended by General Steyn did not take place before this happened. These names were extracted from a wide-ranging list of names, which included those with line responsibility as well as some possibly more directly involved in irregularities, in the documentation which General Steyn made available to the former President. This documentation included no recommendation either to dismiss or retire any military personnel without further investigation - making the drastic action taken by the former President most unusual.
Former President de Klerk called a press conference at which he announced the retirement and dismissal of a total of 23 SADF members. With the support of the Ministers of the Justice and Police, he also authorised General Steyn to make the report available to a team of criminal investigators under the direction of the Attorney-General of the Transvaal and the Attorney-General of the Witwatersrand.
General Steyn made several further reports, both verbal and written, to the former President de Klerk and the Minister of Defence, Mr Kobie Coetzee, during 1993. In all these reports he reiterated the need for further criminal investigation and expressed his concern about the lack of progress. General Steyn's view was that more effort was being expended by the SAP and SADF on 'covering up' and 'identifying leaks' than on gathering evidence. Despite his orders at the start of his investigation that no documentation should be destroyed without his express permission, he was informed by the then NIS that the destruction of documents continued throughout his investigation.