~. E EPISCOPAl. CHURCHPEOPI.E for a FREE SOUTHERN AFRICA 339 lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. 10012-2725 · c (212) 4n.ooee s FAX: (212) 979-10!3 A founded l2 June l956 iJ-177 25 October 1996
R TuEsDA'a', OcroBER 22, 1996 A21 S. Mrican Ex-General : Admits Bombing Role PIETER W. BOTHA Testimony Links President, Minister to Plan :
van der Merwe's statements mark By Lynne Duke prepared to tell of their roles in 40 the first time that a top police official WllbiDct
As for van der Merwe, whose tes commission. Former president Bo About 2,000 amnesty applications timony provided a broad historic tba 80 far has not been called. are pending. So far, only three have context of the police's mentality dur 1be truth commission's work be been granted. As the December ing apartheid and the war footing pn in Jut April, but leCUrity offi deadline to apply for amnesty ap they felt they had to maintain, the cials have been slow to apply for am proaches, more security officials are five officers bad praise. "He helped Dest}r. Those who have applied have expected to come forward. But the us: He stood behind us. He was the generally done 10 from jail, seeking commission, led by retired Anglican only ooe," aaid retired Brigadier jack to have their convictions over Archbishop Desmond Tutu, wants Crooje, a c:ommander in the infa turned, or as a means to prevent Parliament to extend the amnesty mous VJakplaas secret police unit. aiminal prosecution. The five whose deadline to next March. It also The stakes in the truth commis bearing started today are at the cen- wants to extend the date before sion's amnesty process are expected . ter of a major aiminal investigation which a crime it will investigate to climb even further later in the by an attorney general here; three of must have been committed-from week, when two more police gener the five have already been charged, December 1993, when a transitional ."8ls are to be questioned by the com but their cases have been postponed post-apartheid constitution went into mission's amnesty investigators. m1til next year. effect here, to May 1994, after the The generals are among seven, in Their case grew out d one of the inauguration of President Nelson cluding van der Merwe, who have many investigations spawned by the Mandela's government. been or will be subpoenaed in an at trial of police hit man Eugene de tempt to force them to talk. Also on Kock, who recently was convicted that list is Vlok, the former Jaw and oo 89 criminal counts, including six order minister, who would become of murder, and who held the nation the first National Party cabinet offi rapt for several days recently with cial to be forced to go before the his detailed accounts of killing and conspiracy.
SouthScan Vol.11 No.36 27 September 1996
SA POLITICS: Chikarie poisoning still unsolved
Police commissioner George Fivaz is personal~to.follow up the investigation into the 1989 near fatal poasomng of . Frank Chikane, former secretary-general of the SA Coi.!?CII of Churches and now in Deputy President Thabo Mbeki s office. Chikane claims nothing has been done aboUt the matter. He fell ill during a visit to the US in 1989 after stopping over in Windhoek in Namibia. It was suspected at the time that his clothes had been impregnated with the poison ( SouthScan v4123 p 170). .
The incident was mentioned last week at the tnal of !ormer 1Y-. MADLC>W-ASSOCIATtD ~ Vlakplaas commander Col Eugene de Kock who ~rmed Former police commissioner Johann v•n der Merwe, rlettt, w•lta for his tum the poisoning was a joint operation between the polrce and to testify before South Africa' a Truth •net Reconcllhltlon Commission. the military. Fivaz said in a statement he was perturbed at reports that Chikane was still in the darK as to who poisoned him. At the time the US Federal Bureau of Investigations were brought in to investigate, and medical experts at th~ University Of WisconSin con?~ded ~~there was. strong evidence• that a toxin used 1n Insecticides was used. Chikane said a statement WB$ taken from him in 1995 but he had heard nothing since and feared the perpetrators may "still be in operation•. Fivaz said_ he ~ared Chi~ne's concern that the perpetrators may still be 1n the securtty forces and especially the new police service. The case : THE ,trial was centred S Africa: • on accusations that the ' former apartheid gov- : ernment waged a dirty ; war against its reels as i opponents. ! In a seven-month i trial. 16 men faced The Guardian Saturday October 121996 : counts of murder and Malan conspiracy for a 1987 death-squad massacre . in the KwaMakutha : black township, south walks , of Durban. Thirteen people were killed at · the home of an anti apartheid activist, free Yictor Ntuli. A broader "catch-all" verdict with rectitude, issu David Beresford ing a statement accepting the charge accused the de in Johannesburg fendants of conspiring finding and emphasising his : to eliminate opponents respect and confidence in the · of the regime between BUS! NTULI judiciary. : 1986 and 1989. said outside "Without confidence in the the Durban courts, this society will ' ~n :\Ialan m 1980 as a top commander of the apartheid era , THE DEFENDANTS 4. supreme degenerate into private ven Magnus Malan: former court yester geance and extra-legal activi supporters danced and sang for another massacre in the defence minister and day: "South ties," the president said. outside the courthouse yester province - is now on armed-forces chief, AfriCanM law has been like this His statement was clearly day as police looked on. But attachment to the War Crimes aged 65. The most and it's always going to be aimed at pJ;"eventing black Inkatha's secretary-general, Tribunal in The Hague. senior apartheid-era like this: murderers go free." anger welling UJ! in the wake Ziba ·J:yane, accused the Th<: frustration of the official to face charges The outcome of what has of the acquittals. "Judicial KwaZulu-Natal attorney-gen Untouchables at the outcome linked to the killings of been described as one of findings, based on cold and eral who prosecuted the case, of the Malan case was evident opponents. South Africa's trials of the dispassionate analysis of the Tim McNally, of succumbing in a statement they issued 15 co-defendants: Six century- the acquittal of top evidence must be to political pressure to pro yesterday. Zulu police, Inkatha military commanders of the respected even - or espe ceed on the basis of insuffi ''The court has acquitted fighters who received apartheid era over the massa cially -:- by those who are ag cient evidence. the accused in accordance special military train cre of a priest, five women grieved by these f'mdings," Grounds for this accusation with long-accepted legal prin ing in the 1980s, and seven children in a Dur Mr Mandela said. were strengthened by Justice ciples and we must respect I accused of carrying out ban township on January 21, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jan Hugo, who complained in the finding," they said. But the Durban attack; a 1987 - left most of the commenting at hearings near his two-day judgment that wit their investigations had top Inkatha official, country in shock. Cape Town of his Truth Com nesses who could have corrob "revealed clear evidence of M.Z. Khumalo; three Mr Ntuli had a special mission investigating the ex orated the state's case against hit squads operating in the generals, two majors, a reason for bitterness. His cesses of the apartheid era, Gen Malan and his co-defen region of KwaZulu Natal over father was the priest, and his spoke more directly to the dants had not been called. the last 10 years." vice-admiral, a briga- three sisters were among those mood of the townships. Court The task force had con- . dier and a senior killed in the attack on. the verdicts, he pointed out, say E state's case was firmed the existence of the policeman. house of his brother Victor "very litt!e_ a]?out moral guilt eav. ily depe.nd.ent Caprivi training camp and Ntuli _:.: ail ai:J.ti~apartheid ac . ·.. The court acquits because n two key wit- the _incorporation of many of THE DEFENCE tivist- in KwaMakutha town the evidence is not sufficient esses; both of its graduates into the police Gen Malan admits he ship. This massacre formed to prove beyond a reasonable hom were in- ..:.. some of whom had subse helped set up Operation the basis of the prosecution doubt. But you know as you olved in the train- quently been involved in hit Marion, a plan to train case against 16 defendants. walk free out of the court that Ting of the "Caprivi 200" - a squad activities. It had pro the Zulu-dominated There were some, of course, people know that you did this. group of Zulus alleged to have duced "prima facie" evidence Inkatha Freedom Party who were celebrating. Beam You still have to face your been responsible for the Kwa- that "high-ranking officers" to attack groups linked ing broadly outside the court, God." · Makutha massacre who had had been involved in the to tl.t~ African National General Magnus Malan- the In a joint statement issued been trained at a secret camp KwaMakutha massacre. Congress. highest-ranking apartheid later with his deputy chair run by South African mili- The court had accepted that He claims the opera official to face charges for his man, Alex Boraine, Bishop tary intelligence in Namibia. . the massacre had been car- tion was legitimate and work in combating opponents Tutu said the court's decision Captain Johan Opperman ried out by trainees recruited younger renegade offi of white rule - said the ver only showed that the Truth - previously in charge of co- by Inkatha and trained in the cers ran it autono dict was a victory for truth Commission "offers a better vert training of members of Caprivi under the supervi mously; if its forces had and democracy. prospect of establishing the the Angolan rebel movement, sion of Capt Opperman and a part in the Durban "While our country is stag truth about our past than Unita- was a commander at Sgt Cloete of thEj; South massacre, he was gering under waves of crime, criminal trials". . the camp who claimed to have. African Defence Force's "di unaware. corruption and stress, an im~ And there was a word of passed on orders .for the Kwa- rectorate. of special tasks". portant event took piace here waz:ning m. thii7:'5tatement for Makutha operation, and· Ser- The judge· had accepted that THE JUDGMENT today," he said. "All those the 16 acquitted yesterday: geant Andre Cloete testified AK47s used as the murder Justice Jan Hugo who believe in democracy can the outcome of the case that he took 10 Caprivi train- weapons were procured by condemned key prose gain hope for the future from should bring no reassurance ees through :'dry runs" for the military. cution witnesses as this. Today the truth has to perpetrators of apartheid the massacre. The case had "supplied an liars, rejecting much of prevailed." era atrocities. The Truth But both men were accom- insight into the operations of the evidence from a for Gen Malan and his co Commission had not taken a plices and their evidence the security apparatus of the mer militarv intelli accused had denied operating decision whether to investi needed corroboration. Other state in the 1980s," the Un gence officer, Captain 1 death squads which, the pros gate the events leading to the witnesses were available - touchables' statement said. Johan Opperman and ecution argued, carried out Malan trial. "But as with any notably Daluxolo Luthuli, the "Much of this evidence stands his assistant, Sergeant the 1987 massacre. other investigations, if we commander of the Caprivi 200 uncontested. It is often said Andre Cloete. He denied Declaring that "our hearts were to go ahead we would - but were never called. that courtrooms are not the them immunity from go out to the next-of-kin of the not hesitate to invite or sub Members of the Investiga- best places for the exposure of future prosecution. victims of KwaMakutha", poena those involved in .this tion Task Board, the govern- the full picture." · He said Gen., Malan Gen Malan- who as head of trial, including those who ment-appointed unit which in- The statement said the ITU and other top generals the armed forces, and then de have been acquitted." vestigated the Malan case, would report on the wider were involved in plan fence minister, led one of the ning a military opera The trial was a battle were nicknamed the information at its disposal tion against anti most ruthless killing ma ground for Mr Mandela's rul "Untouch,\bles'', having been "in due course". apartheid figures, but chines in Africa - offered "a ing African National recruited n the belieftrui.t they The KwaZulu-Natal attar had no intention or idea special word of thanks to Congress, and the Zulu-domi were beyond the influence of ney-general, Mr McNally, it would include hit President [Nelson] Mandela; nated Inkatha Freedom Party the police and military officers wished the accused well yes squads. we are informed that it was of Chief Mangosuthu Buthe they were hunting. terday. "Justice was seen to due to him that we were able lezi - elements of which The key member of the unit, be done by the whole world," to defend ourselves in this were co-opted by the 1980s Colonel Frank Dutton - cele- he said. court of law." apartheid regime to combat brated for his success in nail- Mr Mandela reacted to the the ANC. About 100 Inkatha ing police officers responsible The-maverick, the mole and the ant. Which South Afiican agent killed Sweden's OlofPalme?
Johannesburg The Observer 6 October 1996
SWEDEN now accepts, after a ·we knew exactly what decade of looking for the killer Sweden was giving to the Irwin, a former major in the of Swedish Prime Minister ANC,' he said. 'We tried to Royal Marines who had Olof Palme, that a hot new . reveal Swedish support for fought but not killed - 'al· trail in South Africa is r.m· this or that, but politically the though I shot at people' - in ning into a fog of hatred. w.u country was not very impor- the Falklands conflict and sations and denials. T~-3 tant. We were much more wor- wh? Willia.JD:S?n tho~t was apartheid government maY ried about countries like the a link to Bntish Intelligence 1 very probably have ordered US who had far greater (al~ough _Irwin ~enies ~).I his murder, but Sweden once influence • White, a disorganised and bit- more despairs of finding the Exposed as a mole, William- ter kill~r :-vh? had been part of ' man who fired the fatal shot. son left and began campaigns Rhodesia s infamous . Selous which inwlved ~-inc\; not ·ol!'.:.&:outs~.$~;.SOJJ;l~thing ofa When Eugene de Rock, a only the 1982 killing of Ruth wild card. . 'SW•IIIdbdl man now known as 'Prime First by a letter-bomb in· , _At the time the . so:can~ Evil', named Craig William· tended for her husband, Joe dirty war: was begmrung m son as the man who killed Slovo, a leading ANC member, ~uth Africa. It<. marked the Palme in Stockholm in 1986, but also the l982 bombing of ~e. of the grotes~uely named Scandinavian journalists the ANC's office in London. At CIVIl Co-~peration Bureau poured into the country. about this time he also Stetaans Briin'Mner Otmi AFRICA has joined the body of nations agitating for a S complete ban on the produc tion, stockpiling. transfer and use of anti-personnel Jandmines -but campaigners say South Mrica should prove its bona.fides by legis lating a complete ban locally. Jackie Selebi, South Mrica's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. last week joined representa tives from about 50 nations in . Ottawa, Canada, *strategising towards· a global ban on anti-per sonnellandmines (APLs). South Afiica's partiCipation in the conference. hosted by the canadian govenunent. signals that it has shed earlier pretensions to the "middle ground-. ·which was to support research into ·smart" APLs as an alternative which was claimed to pose a lesser danger to civilians. Smart mines are designed to self destruct after a set period of time. South Africa disappointed anti landmine campaigners last year at a UN Convention on Conventional Weapons conference last year. and at a re\iew of that this April, when it supported the smart mine option - reportedly after the "hawks" carried of efforts towards a global ban on an tng. He said South Africa had a m1ttee of the Red Cross UCHCJ, con- , tbe day in a split Cabinet types ofAPLs, said Swanepoel-still stockpile of about 300 000 APLs. eluded earlier this year: -:tbe limited : But pressure from non-govern falls short of what the anti-1andmine Pending the mflitaiy reYiew on APL military utiltty ofAP-mines is far out mental organisations, among others, lobby wants. utility - which he believed would weighed by the appalling humanitar soon set South Mrica on a new Said Noel Stott of the South find against them-Jegls1ation could ian consequences ... On this basis course. In May a ban was announced African Campaign to Ban Land be passed early next year that would their prohibition and ellmination on the export of South African APLs, mines: "'fthey are IDO\'fng away from also.ban oroduction. should be pu.""Sued as a matter of and a suspension on their opera the smart mines position:, we would Stockpiles would also be destroyed urgency." tiona! use by the South Mrican 'Welcome that. and if they are moving then. The study was endorsed by South National Defence Force (SANDF). to ban the production of landmines, Selebi said the Ottawa conference AfriCa's Colonel AJ Rossouw, a for pending a review of their militaiy util we would welcome that" had resolved on a number of initia liler commander in mine warfare and ity. But he pointed out that no official tives to build support at interna clearance operations tn Angola and Foreign Affairs liaison officer Pieter ban on the produCtion of APLs was tional, regional and na.tionalleYel for Namibia. Swanepoel confirmed the policy yet in place. and that the suspension a global ban. starting with a resolu The ICRC eStimates there are as change: lhe South African policy on on the SANDF"s operational use of tion to the UN General Assembly tn a many as 11 0-million landmines landmines has over time evolved APLs was still reversible pending tbe number of weeks which would, if spread in 64 countries worldwide, from first identifying so-cailed long military utility review, to be pre adopted. encourage member states with another two to five m1llion 1aid ltved APLs as being the most prob sented to Cabinet as early as Novem to 1mple:ment their awn moratoria on annually. They kill or maim between lematic -and in this regard deciding ber. 'We would see it as a contradic the use and transfer of APLs. 1 000 and 2 000 people a month. they should 'be replaced by so-called tion that they support a total ban An international study on the util mostly civilians. Africa bears the smart or self-destructing APLs - to eventually, yet fail to legislate 1t in Ity ofAPLs. conducted by serving and brunt. with countries like Angola what it is now." South Africa yet.~ retired senior mflitaiy commanders (nine million) and Mozambique (two But "what it is now'" - the support Selebi said that was probably com- on behalf of the International Com- miDton) topping the list. · · MAIL & GUARDIAN Octob<>r 11 to 17 1996 SoulhScan Vol.11 No.35 20 September 1986 SouthScan Vol.11 No.3413 September 1996 INTERNATIONAL: REGION: SA ...~a~ to comer African waste SA military begins preparations SA ia trying to corner the African market in rec:ycling ! for regional peace role tr'llric wutea - in the face of furious reeiat.ance by Mrica.n I National Ccmgrau members and by Green lobbyiata in the The SA army has undertaken active"training in peace- I keeping operationa,-witb aerciae under international au ~uropean Par~ent. The b~ ~uld be highly prof- •. 1table u pouibilitiee Cor dumpmg m third world c:Ountriee ·! · . . pervision in the Northern Province battle school at LOhatla. are iDc:reuingiy cloeed. ; . .~ •- . ~- · ·. • · . • : I · · With the situation Bunmdiworsening, speculation inside A atatement from the SA cieleption·in Bruaaeta.notes : . r ..the country ia that despite government resistance to in tbatwben the BuleComr.ntion comee into force inJanuary I ' volvement it may be obliged to engage in aome capacity soon 1998the flow of'hazardoua wutea from OECD countries to I under· the aegis of the new regional Southern African SA will be banned. • . I Development Community (SADC) security organ (South· The convention does not apply to regional countries and Scan vll/31 p246). . other non-OECD .tatea and SA ia now negotiating to This week the SANDF, the private Institute for Defence changethetermaofthe Lome Convention, which it will sign · Policy, the Norwegian government and the British Army IIOOD, to allow it to receive dangerous waste from its StafTCollegewerecollaboratingin'ExerciseMomingStar', neighboun~ in the region "who lack the capacity to manage scheduled to end on September 20. these aubst.ances themselves•. The exercise is the first of a series to be held by the According to the SA delegation, -u Southern African military, culminating in the tactical warfare exercise 'Southern Cros~· at the Army Battle School at Lohatlha in count:i~ ~ preve~ted_from uti.liaing ~-- proceaaing I November. · · capaatiee m the repm 1t could only lead to an increase in the unsafe and eavironmentally unaound diapoeal of haz . According to the SANDF, "the aim of Exercise Morning ardous wute•. Star is to orientate members on the doctrine, planning, and Instead SA abould build ita capacity in tbia regard. command and control of peace support operations at the The intention ia to prevent African states sending their strategic, operational and tactical levels". wutebacktotbe EU forproca!IBing, anexp8nsiveprocedure I The government has given its tacit approval for military involvement in a peacekeeping force, and aome officers which will not atop them having to take the final processed I have been involved in training in the US, and with theN a to product back. force in Bosnia (SouthScan vll/24): It will alaoprevent"un.ac:rupuloa concerns in the region" Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and deputy foreign who may find it tempting to dump their. wastes in the · . minister Aziz Pahad recently held talks in Tanzania and at region. ·· the Organisation of African Unity headquarters in Addis However, there are few African states which have suf Ababa over South Africa's participation. ficient industry to produce toxic waste, aom:e arialysts &Ild Meanwhile Amnesty International has reported that believe that other mau.trialllt&tea instead will tranship more than 6,000 people were killed in various parts of their waste material to SA. Burundi in a spaceofthreeweeks since the July coup there. In the past a number of publicised there ha., been This was despite promises by Major Pierre Buyoya, who attempts to dump the region- meet tmicor~utein took power on July 25, to end killings and prevent forcible I notably in Namibia, the Windhoek government thoacb repatriation of Rwandan refugees. denied the advanciee by a Swiu hued company . I•. . ANCmemberaoftbeNatioaalAuembly'aenvirooment committeeaaidlutweek that SA wu tmable to JDaDai'! ita tal:ic waste e&ct.noely. They aaid the~ ahoWd SouthSclin Vol.11 No.35 20 September 1996 I give a clear signal to the EU that it inteaded to ban all 1 imports and ezporta of toxic wute. lt. wu anticipated. u we went to P1Wol that the SA I IMilitary rev-1 billion Rend plena' attempt to build in a loophole in the Lome pact would be defeated. Ttte SA National Defence ~ has unvelled proj$cts COSting billions of Rands to upgrade their equiprn8nt. This The Greens have called on the governments of the UK, plan! announced ear1ier this year by Defence Minister Joe Italy and Spain to take the initiative for the repatriation of ModtSe, but without any detail, runs counter to the par1ia the toxic wastes exported from their countries-in addition mentary defence committee's calls for a downsizing of the to the UK subsidiary to Thor Chemica.la, Ausimont (Italy) mUitary. and Gomen.saro (Spain) are involved they say. Defence Secretary Pierre Steyn told the defence committee Meanwhile tbia week the Danish government signed that ~t of the 1~ projects for the financial year are for three co-operation agreements in Cape Town focusing on the atr force, lncludtng more than R2 billion by the end of water quality and waste management. next year on helicopter raplacement ( SouthScan v11/14). Another project involves buying 94 battle tanks to replace the Otifant tanks at more than R3 billion. . . .. . ~nVoi.11Ho.3627.September1996 SA may aupply anna to Rwanda , · .... ·.. ·· ··· · government SA's arms control committee was this week deciding whether to auppty arms to Rwanda. This follows a request by Rwanda's vice-presiden~. Paul Kagame, who was in South Africa on a low-key visit last week. Chairman of that inter-ministerial body Kader AsmaJ said the committee had been considering arms supplies to the Rwanda govemment for the past three months. -we recognize that the previous genocidal maniacs who carried It was the begirimng of a ;;··HEN · the !Joard a member at Anglo of dynasty. Sir Ernest, who - . Ameriean stutters, founded Anglo in 1917, was •-• . · the trading screens followed as chairman by his ., in Johannesburg son Harry, now 87. Nicky Op flicker with apprehension. To penheimer, Sir Ernest's 13 October 1996 De Observer many, Anglo American is grandson, is Anglo's present South Africa. It is the repu~ deputy chairman and chair lie's largest corporation, with man of De Beers' Central Sell a portfolio of assets matched · ing Organisation. He is being only by the state itself. It has groomed to assume control more than 25 per cent . of when chairman Julian Ogilvie shares on the country's stock Thompson resigns. . exchange and control of sOuth . A glance at the boards of Africa and beyond, in particu Acquisitions like these Africa's key commodities: Anglo and its sister. compa lar to the tiger economies of would enable Anglo to gold, diamonds and platinum. nies, De Beers and Minorco South-East Asia. achieve its. ambition of being So it is no surprise that its international inveStment The company has made no· an 'AfriCan' multinational. Its when Michael Spicer, one of arm - shows the control that secret of its interest in ZCCM, .strategists will be aware that Allglo's directors, announced a few figures, such as Ogilvie the state-owned Zambia Con gold and diamond mines of the last week that the company is Thompson, exercise. solidated Copper Mines. It is Cape, plundered for 100 years, engaged in a strategic review Anglo American is a vast negotiating to develop Zam . are slowing down. and that some non-core assets commercial web spanning bia's Konkola Deeps copper A big commercial push would be sold, there was a mining, brewing, banking, in; belt. But the mines and infra north of South Africa's bor shiver of excitement in the surance and technology. It has structure are sorely run down ders may_also prove politically trading rooms. stakes in more than 100 s~ and will require a huge invest astute. After the ANC From the land-grabbing of sidiaries whose stocks perfo ment to transform them into a clinched 11ower, Cyril Sir Cecil Rhodes to the com rate the bourses of Johannes modem n:Untng operat.{on. BaJtaphosa, the ANC secre mercial aggrandisements of burg, Lolidon and New York. Anglo is also eager to in- tary general, implicitly the Oppenheimer clan, accused the company of being Anglo's history is intricately one ot a grou_p qf white South bound to the fortunes of South Anglo's plans AfriCan rongli)inerates 1block Africa. The greatest enemy or ing investment, hampering The Oppenheimers, culti- wtU be prohibitive exchange controls growth and frustrating the vated German Jews, arrived ambitions of black -.in Kimberley's diamond fields entrepreneurs'. · trom Germany in 1902, shortly The company is conserva crease its stake in Ashanti Responding to calls for a after the end of the Boer war, tive and, to many observers, Goldfields, the Ghanaian gold break up of Anglo, Spicer avoiding the flood of anti-sem unwieldy. Its business style is group led by Sam Jonah, the accused the government of 0 itism seeping through Europe. characterised by long-term charismatic black African wanting to tear down 'the only By the mid-192tls, Ernest~ planning and grandiose acqui bmrinessman Anglo recently bldigenous multinational on ::1 penheimer had received a sitions. City observers say negotiated an option to buy an the African continent'. knighthood and was elected as that Anglo sneers at deals 18.5 per cent holding in Len Recently. however, the com a member of Smut's South worth less than $500 million. rho, on top ot the 10 per cent it ·. pany has made two important African Party. By the 1930s, he In recent years, Anglo has already holds. This stake, concessions to black political was in control of Cecil Rhodes' reserved its ambitions to which it is almost certain to interests. D_e Beers-the world's largest South Afrtca, leaving interna take up, would give Anglo sig · Last month, Anglo under diamond corporation - and tional investments to its Lux nificant influence on Loru-ho's took South Africa's· largest ~d _expanded Anglo's gold embourg-based twin, mining operations, which in ever transfer of assets to black IIlllllllg operations through Minorco. Now it looks poised clude a 37 per cent stake in shareholders when it agreed out Southern Afrtca. to ~end its reach throughout Ashanti. to sell 48 per cent of its stake in Johnnie, an industrial and Anglo, that helped shake the seen earlier this year at .the in the 21st century. The panel media group, to the National white establishment into Rustenburg platinum mines of planners is also examining '''•Empowerment Consortium. action. He forecast that with where the entire workforce of which non-core assets to sell. The NEC represents black out involving blacks in the 28,000 was sacked following an They are undoubtedly scan business interests and trade political and economic sys unofficial strike. ning the books of companies lmions and is led by Cyril tem, the country was destined The greatest enemy of including First National Bank Ramaphosa, who left parlia- for isolation and decay. Anglo's expansionist plans and Southern Life, an assur ment in May to move into the In the 1970s, Anglo set an- will be South Afrtca's prohibi ance company. Analysts say private sector. other trend by introducing li~ tive exchange controls. These that Del Monte, which has not The move echoes Anglo era1 workers' codes, guaran forbid South African compa performed well, would be an American's decision in 1964 to teeing health and safety nies from taking cash out of astute disposal. &ell General Mining --.now ·-Jt;andanisinitsmines. the countiy to buy foreign The Premier Group, a small Gencor - to Afrikaner busi- But it is undoubtedly true assets. Anglo recently took food and drugs manufacturer, 'IJ!!I!S1DeD, followillgtberise in that Anglo's commercial out a $1bn multi-currency the South African Eagle Insur l'Boer political D:iftueDce. This growth was aided by the revolving credit facility, of ance Company, in which _provided a key .platform for Anglo has a 25 per cent stake, Afrikaaners' adVaDC!! into pri and Anglo American Farms, vate finance. City observers say the corporation are also possible targets. Anglo is now understood to Historically, the company be negotiating a follow.up sneers at deals worth less than $500m has taken ·a cautious, long deal - the sale of Anglo's term approach to sales and stake in JCI, the mining acquisitions and does not look house, to black commercial apartheid years. As South Af which $500m is still-available. eager to change. interests. rica was isolated by sanctions Bankers say that it should 'Unless someone offers an Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and western companies with make more use of this credit to eye-popping price and unless would have relished the irony drew, Anglo swept up. The buy abroad. the reserve bank comes up that his company. singled out company moved into lucra But Anglo is in no hurry. With a solution that would as a paradigm of white South tive territories, such as finan Most of its assets are perform allow them to keep some of the African excess. publicly criti cial services, acquiring assets ing nicely and it does not need money offshore, Anglo will cised the apartheid regime like First National Bank from cash. The company's bank wait, • said one analyst. long before it became fashion Barclays. balance was recently swelled 'What Anglo needs is to tidy able to do so. Anglo's mining interests by the sale of Johnnie up its portfolio. They have Harry Oppenheimer is a fa. have also benefited from The company's 'strategic quite a few companies that are bled liberal. and in the 1980s it cheap and accessible labour. review', revealed last week by too small and too remote to was the gloomy scenario plan low expectations about health Spicer, is looking beyond the care about. The one thing that ning of Clem Sunter. now and welfare and the abilitY to relaxation of exchange con Anglo does not need right now head of corporate affciirs at fire militant employees,· as trols to where Anglo should be is rands in South Afrtca.' 14 SPOF The Guardian Friday September 21 19% Athletics ...... •...... : ...•••...... Sepeng at centre of South Afric&n race-rigging row Van Heerden and the coun "ulian Drew and David Beresford try's other Olympic BOOm ath lete, Johan Botha. find evidence of administrative 'fixing' A later clause stipulates that the parties to 'the con involving the country's top BOOm runners tract will keep it "strictly i private and confidential at all \.IDENCE has ASA, as well as the athlete. times" and its contents "will emerged that sug Sepeng. who just missed out not be divulged to any third gests the federation on gold in Atlanta, refused to party for any reason governing South Afri sign the contract. But one of whatsoever". canE athletics has been trying his main rivals, Marius van It is understood that, when to rig races involving some of Heerden. the then South Afri- Sepeng was invited to meet the country's top runners. can Boom record holder, is be- ASA to discuss the contract, The Guardian has obtained lieved to have signed a simi- Rose told him that he could a copy of a draft contract Jar document. not bring any advisers. Se- which Athletics South Africa The draft contract was al- peng refused to sign any (ASA) allegedly tried to per· legedly presented to Sepeng thing, however, without flrst suade Hezekiel Sepeng, the by ASA in April, three discussing it with his coach, Olympic 800 metres silver months before the Centennial "JP" van der Merwe. Botha medallist. to sign. It includes Olympics. The document alsorefusedtosign. undertakings that be would states that Sepeng should not But Van Heerden. who at not break the national record race. against Van Heer1en the time was without a man except at meetings staged· by over BOOm except at specified ager to advise him, an oil corporation. Engen. venues: the Old Mutual ·SA apparently did sign, having The document was pre Track and Field Champion- just broken the 25-year-old pared for the signature of ships: the three Engen Grand South African soom record. South Africa's athletics su Prix meetings in Pietersburg, Rose denied the existence of premo Bernard Rose. the Pretoria and Cape Town; the contract when first ques chief executive officer of and the Pepsi All Africa tioned about it. "There is no International meeting in contract between ASA and Johannesburg. any athlete which says he It also declares that Sepeng :must not break records," said will not attempt to break the the ASA chief executive. "No South African 800m record body can stop an athlete from except at the three Engen breaking records with a meetings. The agreement contract." specifies various payments When he was confronted for competing in these with a copy of the document. events and a bonus schedule with an ASA letter-head. a for specific time-based ·clearly flu.stered Rose said: performances. "A piece of paper that is not Clause 3 of the contract signed by Hezekiel Sepeng stipulates: "It is agreed by the has nothing to do with any parties that Hezekiel may thing you are talking about." race the BOOm in other permit He said it was merely a "start· meetings, but that he will not ing point for negotiations .. attempt to break the South with Sepeng. He said a con African record and that he tract had since been signed will not race against Marius with Sepeng which had satis van Heerden over the 800m fied all parties. distance. Mthobi Tyamzashe, the di· "Should ASA feel that Heze. rector general of the Depart kiel has made ah attempt on ment of Sport and Recreation. the BOOm record (or he has in said the ASA contract , fact broken the record), then amounted to "a serious viola ! this agreement• will be null tion of the principles of fair and void and Hezekiel will ness in sport".. ··. repay to ASA any monies that He added that "in the next have been paid to him in few days" ASA would be terms of this agreement." given a chance to explain the The contract goes on to give draft contract. "We will then an undertaking that ASA will see what steps need to be I sign similar agreements with taken." ----·------:- Southern Africa REPORT N-a-mibia's Wall of Silence july 1996- pendence. differs significantly from . The book was immediately at- not, however, to these that the book BY LAUREN DOBELL the AJIIC's approach to the same tacked by senior Swapo leaders, is primarily pitched. The account fundamental challenge of putting a L~uren Dobell is a docCoral including President Sam Nujoma serves several purposes: as a cathar C&lldidate at Oxford U.aiYenity nation's ugly and painful past be and party Secretary-General Moses sis for the author, as an attempt to and a student . of Namibiu hind it. South Africa's Govern Garoeb as "false history," its author provide some small solace to the vic- politics. ment of !'\ational Unitv established as an "enemy of Swapo'" (and, by tims and their families, as a plea for a Truth and Reconciiiation C.om implication, of Namibia). Sponsors a confession from the perpetrators, mission. reasoning. in the words of Namibia: The Wall of Si of a formal book launch were ac- and for some serious soul-searching Justice Minister Dullah Omar, that cused of having declared war .on na- by those who protected them by lence, by Siegfried Groth (Pe '"reconciliation is not simply a quEis ter Hammer Verlag, Wup tiona! reconciliation. All the at ten- their silence. The general reader will tion of indemnity or amnesty or let tion risked portraying the book it- find the accounts of individuals' ex- pertal, Germany 1995) 211 ting bygones be bygones. If the pages. self as the issue. rather than for what periences within the movement mo~- wounds of the past are to be healed it provided: a lightning rod for seri- ing but fragmentary. Groth calls hiS ... if future violations of human ous and legitimate discontent among acc~unt of the spy drama a "body Namibia's collegial multi rights are to be avoided. if we are party parliament, its exem mam !'\amibians. a bellwether for without limbs," but it is in fact the successfully to initiate the building Swapo's tolerance of criticism and reverse: it is the central narrative plary national constitution of a human rights culture. disclosure democratic dissent, and a decisive thread that is lacking. and its regular, peaceful elec of the truth and its acknowledgment test for the resilience of the magic i tions are a continuing aource is essential.'" of pride to its citizens and wand of national reconciliation. Several of the chapters follow a of satisfaction to local and As !'\amibia's ruling party. , similar pattern, tracing the story of international observers. As : Swapo chose another route to recon The book itself courageous Namibians whose expe rience of apartheid cruelty at home a measure of the degree ; ciliation. In the government's view Turning first, then, to the b'X>k and to which democr&tic prac resurrect.\ng the past served no use sent them into exile, where they its contentious contellts. The author fell victim to forces they could not tice is entrenched, however, ful purposE. A successful transi is a German Lutheran pastor who5e a smoothly functioning elec tion. the argument went. required comprehend. Groth's own ana ties to Namibia date back to the lytical tool - the measuring stick toral system is in itself iJl cooperation among former enemies. early 1960s, when he was sent by the sufficient. To be considered and dehing into past wrongs would of morality - is ill-suited to the Rhenisch Mission in Wuppertal to task of explaining actions that were genuinely "consoHdated," a on!~ incit.;> a desire for vengeance work with the Evangelical Lutheran democratic polity must have a11d distract the nation from the rooted rather in more terrestrial in Church in Namibia. Subsequently stincts: anti-intellectualism, ethnic demonstrated itself able to tasks of reconstruction and devel banned from entering Namibia, he cope with stresses or shocks ovn"'nt An un By Lynne Duke general allegedly put it, for "a thousand apartheid government's most brutal deeds Wooiungtoa Pool Foreip Senil:e years." aimed at stamping out the underground Convicted last month on 89 counts stem guerrilla struggle waged by blacks. PRETORIA, South Africa, Sept. 17-His ming from his confessed occupation as an as De Kock is the first high-level white secu bluish-gray suit is of nondescript cut. His sassi., during the apartheid era of white-mi rity official to be convicted of apartheickra hair swoops to the side. as if to cover a bald nority rule, de Kock promised to sing before crimes and to attempt to lay ultimate respon spot. His demeanor is awk-ward. His voice is he was sentenced. This week, in an extraor sibility at the feet of high-level politicaJ and flat. His thick glasses rest on a deadpan face. dinary series of allegations about dirty tricks security officials. In fingering higher-level of Eugene de Kock cuts a figure so unrelnark under white-minority rule, he told a sentenc ficials, he seemed to be trying to get a reduc ! I able that he could be any pencil-pushing civil ing hearing ~ his work as a leader of an as tion in what promises to be a heavy sen servant in the old South Africa or the new sassination squad, implicating former presi tence. ~ except that this week he is talking, and his dent Pieter W. Botha as well as cabinet The accusations are part of the detritus of I words are drenched \\ith blood. members and a collection of generals from apartheid South Africa is trying to grapple I De Kock talks of killing children, blowing the 1980s. with, the backwash from state repression I up bodies, bombing church offices, and being These officials, de Kock said, either or that was the order of the day until the coun congratulated for his deadly endeavors by a dered, knew about or saluted the covert op try's first all-races election in 1994. The Af- racist government bent on ruling, as one erations, which represented some of the See SOUTH AFRICA, A22, CoL 4 l other bombef!> would be on a flight homeland called KwaZulu. whose back to Johannesburg when the blast seat was in the northern Kwalulu occurred. De Kock said he received town of l:lundi, where de Kock said A truth commission, led-by Angli a medal from Louis le Grange, then he made several weapons shipments. _ SOUTH AFRICA, From Al can former archbishop Desmond the law and order minister. Tutu, is attempting to ferret out the De Kock, a colonel who led the rican National Congress won that • The 1985 and '86 raids on neigh South Africa police force's \ lakplaas facts of apartheid~ra human rights election, which elevated its leader, boring Botswana in search of ANC hit squad during the 1980s, lias . Nelson Mandela, to the presidency. abuses by offering amnesty to per operatives. On one of these raids, a emerged as the worst nightmare of Today, de Kock described a 1987 petrators like de Kock and repara couple and two children were killed the apartheid-era officials who \\!ish order to bomb the Johannesburg tions to victims. But on a separate when de Kock's operatives blew up a to remain silent about their reign. headquarters of the then-new Con track, prosecutions like de Kock's house. De Kock said no one told him gress of South Africa Trade Unions are being heard in the courts. The web of conspiracy and mur children woUld be there. On another der that de Kock has described in (COSATtn,. a black labor federa De Kock has cooperated as a pro raid, four other people were killed, tion. Initially, he balked at the or tected witness on related criminal three of them Botswanan. Not nam the Pretoria Supreme Court this· der, he recounted, then asked who cases, and he also has applied to the ing which incident he was describ week contradicts earlier assertioDS authorized it. "From the highest," truth commission for amnesty. De ing, de Kock said evidence taken that the Vlakplaas unit ·.vas a rogue he said he was told. "From where, Kock has confessed to six murders, from the scene suggested none of element within the security estab-' the state president?" he responded. and his testimony this week links the victims was with the ANC. lishment. ; The answer. he said, was yes. him to far more. • The 1988 bombings of Khotso Former defense minister Magnus-· Botha was president at the time, Aside from de Kock's fate, how House, the Johannesburg headquar Malan. on trial in a separate hit- " serving from 1984 to 1989. After ever, several other cases hinge in ters of the Sc~th fl...fric:m Council of SQuad conspiracy case, has denied. the bombing, de Kock te$tified to part on his testimony. Proseeutors Churches, followed by bombing of that police were used for militpry day, the law and order minister, Ad who hope to build other cases took Khanya House, the Pretoria offices ends. But in testimony led by his at~ ~ riaan Vlok, congratulated him at a notes in the front row of the court of the South African Catholic Bish torney, Flip Hattingh, de Kock tod~ _; barbecue held for members of the this week, adding to the cases they ops' Conference. portrayed his unit, based on a faml :, are building against other figures in covert unit. Botha, who is 80, has • The 1990 gun-running to the In called Vlakplaas near Pretoria, as. a~·. kept a low profile since he lost the the security branches. . katha movement of Mangosuthu kind of clearinghouse for weapons :: In addition to the COSATU Buthelezi, which helped fuel a con presidency in 1989 and has re~ procurement, fraud. bombings ana,· bombing, de Kock today admitted flict that claimed thousands of black to take part in the new South Afri assassinations ordered by an array a( ·· he took part in the planning or exe lives in the townships around Johan ca's orocess of truth-tellin2. police and military officials. Indeed.~~ cution of: nesburg and in Natal Province. Be • The 1982 bombing of the ANC fore the the so-called black "home' some of Malan's co-defendants also, headquarters in London. A detona lands" were dissolved in 1994, are implicated in de Kock-related • tion timer was set so that he and the Buthelezi. was chief minister of the crimes. .~_,....··"'oay of the assassin promises to thrill Pronounced guilty, Eugene give evidence impllcating at least eight terms with its violent past the oppor This means he could retuse to ~..,t:er generals from the old security forces. tunity to hear and understand-from teet hitmen like *Chappies • Kloppers de Kock will now have his Whether this information extends to a member of the and Joe Mamasela, who are no·w tum to incriminate members members of the National Party Cabi inner cirCle of receMng material benefits from ilie net and the State Security Council Justice Department, including wit of the old security forces, Pretoria's *total war" strategists - remains to be seen. why they did the thlngs they did. ness protection and monthly writes Eddie Koch Here there is an lntrtcate interplay More importantly, Justice Wllliam stipends, just because they gave evi with the workings of the Truth and van der Merwe will have to take into dence against their former colleague. . HE day of judgme~t had Reconciliation Commission. That aecount De Kock's own testimony, The way this matter is handled will come. Yet there was no air of organisation's investigative unit has as well as that of a psychologist have a crucial bearing on how the anticipation in the court issued sUbpoenas to seven of the men and criminologist. when he judicial system's need to induce room. No murmurs of De Kock could point out: Generals decides at the end of the hear informants to come out of the wood appnMil in the gallery as the Johan van der Merwe, MJke Gelden ings on what kind of punish work is married with the creation of a Tjudge deltYered his verdict Not a single huys. Johan Coetzee - all former culture that refuses to reward people ment to hand down to the self family member to sniffie as he was police commissioners - and Basie confessed killer. Although the who abuse human life. taken In It Sm1t. Krappies Engelbrecht, Johan le The De Kock trtal falls outside the down to the cells. fact. was comparlsOn is both inaccurate the kind of denouement that could Roux and Bertus Steyn. ambit of the Truth and Reconciliation and cliched - it will be the have ruined the entire show. timing convenient. CommiSSion. But, just as that body The is lf the gen closest that South Africa has After a courtroom series that tOOk erals tl.e. or fail to volunteer slgnificant was set up to do, the marathon case come to an E!chmann trtal. 18 months and cost at least RS-mil details about their role In covert oper could help find the elustve formula to lion to produce. the judge asked ations, they could well be caught out This places an enormous burden promote reconciliation and respect Eugene de Kock to stand up in the when De Kock begins to talk next on the judge. He will have to come up for all those who died. dock and. in just two minutes, sum month. This will effectively minimise with a sentence that is not only bal If it succeeds. the taxpayers· martsed his judgment: guilty of six the generals' chances of lodging suc anced, but one that. he has indi RS-million may have been worth it. murders, two counts of conspiracy to cessful applications for amnesty cated. will have taken into account murder. one ofattempted murder. one before the cut-off date, thus plac- the broader political imperative of the of culpable homicide, one of abduc ing them under strong pres- times: to understand and forgive if tion, one of serious assault. one of sure to come clean when this can promote national reconcilia being an accessory to culpable homi they begin answering ques- tion without undennining a culture cide. one of defeating the ends of jus tions in camera to the that respects human life. tice, nine of illegal arms and ammuni truth commission on Fri- By taking into account De Kock's tion possession; and 66 of fraud. day. social, psychological and political In the old days these multiple crimes The colonel will also background. Justice Vander Merwe's - a total of 89 counts, probably more talk about his in sentence could end up using the key serious than one person has ever been volvemei:tt in the sup *proportionality" test contained in convicted of in South Africa, would ply of weapons, internationally accepted principles on have warranted the hangman's noose ammunition and how to prosecute war crimes. or at least a sentence of 200 years. explosives to lead- He will have to decide whether the Yet De Kock sat down without ing members of acts that De Kock committed flincJling. A group of bored schoolkids the Jnkatha Free- including conspiracies to murder who had beeri sent to wrtte up a pro dom Party In the friends and colleagues who either ject about the case shuftled out of early 1990s, told or threatened to tell the truth court clutchlng pens and notebooks. war material about the activities of his Vlakplaas And the legal teams got down to plan that may well unit at the time and gruesome ways ning. in a matter-of-fact way, their have been used of disposing of victims' bodies by next episode: the one that everyone In to account for burning them or blowing them up court knows is going to be the block the huge num- into tiny pieces - were in proportion buster which will probably justify the ber of murders to the political motives and the mind extravagant costs of this drama. conurJtted dur- set that drove him to do it. On September 16 Colonel de Rock. ing the low key a man who has described himself as civil war that still he judge has already indicated the most accomplished of the many rages in that that, during the mitigation assassins who executed the apartheid province. Thearings. he wants to deal v.;th government's COYeit wars. will explain IFP senator Philip issues like this that are beginning to why he did these gruesome things. Powell, former KwaZulu shape the jurisprudence of post Political ideals. fears of a commu police minister CJ Mthetwa and apartheid South Africa. nist take-over, vtolent bush wars in IFP heavyweights in Gauteng. He will weigh up any evidence that Rhodesia (Dow Zimbabwe) and South Humphrey Ndlovu and Themba De Kock presents about the political West Africa {now Namibia). battle Khoza have all ~n implicated in nature of his activities. especially fatigue and shock. instructions from the supply of weaponry to with regard to the charges of gun the political hlerarchy ... all of these Jnkatha's self protection units and running to lnkatha, before he deliv factors will be woven into a personal will be holding their breaths when ers sentence. He has also made it narrative that could tum this coun the Pretoria Supreme Court hear clear that witnesses who gave evi try's recent history into the stuff of a ingS open on September 16. dence against De Kock will not auto Frederick Forsyth thriller. . But the true importance of De matically be granted indemnity The mitigation hearings will also Kock's mitigation hearings lies not against prosecution for crimes they have serious implications for other in political significance or the enter were personally involved ~· political murderers and assassins. tainment value of the event. They will, De Kock has already stated he will, probably more than any judicial as part of his e.xplana_tion for the mur process ever held in this country. pro ders he has confessed to canytng out, vide a nation desperate to come to