Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
1 April 1998
Allegations that an informer betrayed Steve Biko to the Security Police in 1977 have not been substantiated by TRC investigations so far.
The Investigative Unit of the Commission is continuing its probe into the allegations, made purportedly by a retired policeman, but at this stage we have a number of difficulties with the claims:
- We have so far been unable to trace the policeman, one G A Fourie, and the SAPS has no record of such an officer serving in the Security Branch;
- The fellow policemen named by him in a letter to the Chairperson of the TRC some time ago did not hold the positions claimed in his letter;
- Leading political figures have told me that the alleged informer did not play a role which would have given her access to the sort of information which Fourie's letter claimed she possessed.
I have been in touch with the woman named in "Fourie's" letter and will be speaking to her at greater length in the next few days.
In terms of the law governing the TRC, we may not disclose the identify of someone named to his or her detriment without giving them prior notice. In this case we would name the woman involved only if there was some substantiation to the allegations and she had been given the requisite notice.
The investigations are continuing and we will report on them once we have taken them further.
Inquiries: John Allen, 082- 452-7859