Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
STATEMENT BY THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
The Amnesty Committee has granted amnesty to a member of the Afrikaner Volksfront and Conservative Party who was convicted on several counts of illegal possession of weapons.
Mr Olof Vorster (28) was sentenced to community service and a fine after pleading guilty to charges brought against him in the Pretoria Regional Court last year.
Court records showed the list of weapons in Vorster's arsenal to have included a Makarov pistol, an AK-47 machine-gun (with more than 1500 rounds of ammunition), a bayonet, nightsight equipment, flares, smoke grenades, teargas dispensers, landmine detonators, mechanical and electrical switches, 20 pieces of blasting material and explosives, as well as ammunition for a wide range of weapons, including hunting rifles.
Amnesty was granted in respect of all charges after the matter was decided upon in chambers this week. A public hearing was not necessary because Vorster did not commit any gross human rights violations, as defined in the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act.
The applicant, who lives in Pretoria, said in his application he did not have a direct command to stash the weapons, but that his actions were motivated by the leaders of the Volksfront, who urged members to prepare for "chaos" before and after the 1994 elections.
Vorster said he never used the weapons against a person. He was however not licensed to own a firearm. The weapons were stashed at two sites in the district of Pretoria.
The full text of the application is available from the TRC's Cape Town offices on request - phone Odile Pearce on 021-245161.
Further inquiries - Christelle Terreblanche on 0824588461.