Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
12 January 1998
STATEMENT BY THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
Seventeen more people, including former Vlakplaas commander, Eugene de Kock, have been subpoenaed by the TRC's Investigative Unit to give evidence and/or answer questions in relation to the Commission's investigations into the Mandela United Football Club (MUFC).
Two of those subpoenaed are agents from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) who could not be identified and will not be testifying at the public hearing scheduled for January 28 to 30 in Johannesburg. They will be questioned in camera. Ten are former members of the Soweto Security Branch, one a former deputy attorney-general, one from the former Soweto murder and robbery unit and two other investigative officers from the former South African Police (SAP).
The three day hearing later this month follows ten days of evidence by more than 25 witnesses during November and December last year, including testimony by Mrs Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
During this evidence and further investigations by the TRC it was decided that the evidence of the former Security Branch (SB) members will be essential to the TRC's investigations into a number of human rights violations allegedly committed by the Mandela United Football Club during the eighties. Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was not subpoenaed to the hearing, but has the right to attend with her legal representatives and to question those subpoenaed.
The 15 former policemen will be questioned on several issues, including the alleged smear campaign they conducted against Mrs Madikizela-Mandela, whether or not she was spied upon, and their investigations into some of the alleged violations, like the death of Dr Abubaker Asvat and disappearance of Lolo Sono.
The 10 former members of the Soweto Security Branch are: Ignatius Coetzee;Wilhelm Coetzee; SP Nienaber; Hume du Toit; Jan Potgieter, Anton Pretorius; Jan Augustyn; DFM Bosman, Louis Watermeyer and Louis de Jager.
The other five policemen are: Andre Kritzinger, formerly of the Soweto murder and robbery unit;Eugene de Kock, currently serving several life sentences;Soweto Molaba, of the former SAP detentive services; Norman Lemmer, investigating officer on some MUDF linked cases and Adv Van Vuuren, former deputy attorney-general of the former Transvaal province.
The hearings will again take place at the Johannesburg Institute for Social Studies in Mayfair. Details of logistic arrangements for the media will be released next week.
For more information, please call Christelle Terreblanche at 0824588461.