E EPISCOPAL CHURCHPEOPLE for a FREE SOUTHEBN AFRICA 339 Lafayette Street. New York. N.Y. '00'2-2725 C (2'2) 4n-0066 FAX: (212) 979 -1013 ~S A #119 10 December 1991
The South African Council of Churches , its component churches and individual churchpeople have long been targetted by the apartheid regime. Pretoria regards the religious opposi tion - of all faiths - fully as t~atening as its political opponents and has used its security forces," clandestine killer units and disinfonnation campaigns against them. Pretoria - touted as devoted to democracy - has concocted a new scheme: a fake pamphlet aimed to discredit the SACC's firm stand in support of sanctions and to direct a flood of hungry and impoverished people toward SACC headquarters in central Johannesburg (the original Khotso House was destroyed by a secretly placed bomb just over three years ago). The Rev Dr Frank Chikane, SACC general,secretary, who was nearly poisoned to death twJ
r~ J.l1le~: Africa~···· - -.-... ~ ,Councd Of, Churches, • TO THE'.POOR AND UNEMPLOYED'
" ".. " ' ,t' .' , , ',_AI 'fOU ,know !ht Sot.ith Afr1cin 'Coun=1 of Church.. btfitv•• in U\t " ,~:GosPtt'of U'le Poor, 'God earu f~:~'Poer IfId w. bt/i.v. M Wi': h...... ~.I e:amng ~g cart fer ttl.l.poor of our CIt';. , '. " , We Weri bl.n.d during Jilt YI.r and rKINId no Jtu ttl." R254 O!9 from ,our btlovtd ov"'..... donora',;for h\lngtr .nd ;'11..,. (Our tota!, ~orni wu juSt ov" "29 miU+Cnl. ~Iy It180 106 w•• uMd cturil'lO ~t 'fur ,and ~'3 8!3 wa. IMt to, help .11 of yOu, \lYho are, poor 'tid "nlmpleyed, . '~'::; ,'. How.vtr, w. hlv. a confualon to Ift,lte. Fer many'VNta ~•.:' =m~lg~ fer ~net!~r.s I~Mrt. ~_'!h Afrlt! !M ~..1)nyjl'le~ ~ , O..,.,..U comp'l'Iiu not fa build nlw 'aetorf.. and do ~sln.... fn Solnh Af"". ,",0.. who had b~"euu and faC1Cnll In So",ttI Africa wt fc,* to cloll down ,nd I.a~. me counVy;' Ut'l'OIl1.In.~tly ~s put ",.ny Black workerl out of their jobs and II • rNult of thn lOCS.y "'anv ara uMfI"lplo'rtd an~ vetV DOOr. W. al$.o lU~td tn. Itly aWl'II 0' IN Mde unio". thtt cauUd • Io~ of B1.~ work.r. to 10M "tir job•• ~ w, c6nfH' to eM f.ct, that -. cauMd I ,rut dul Of unam~l¢yment and ~~ In Sou., Africa. W. now want to 1rY and helD Itll poor aM unem~. WI wi" gJv. you • I~I Chrinma& oarctl of foue tnd clothing to maJc.e 'to" Md you, IUf't'inQ family hippy. Wt off., eN. &I, tokft' of 04Jt rtC*'tlt\Ot. ' Chrirm\all ~I W\ be ob1:iNd MI1t d\. off'toeI of N SolIf, A,",,*, CouncJ of C),u!"CNs It' lChoao )biN. 12 Mltll\eu hwt in JoNmMtaurg. (The Churctt of en. Pro¥fra of ~ Africa wP\o has offIcM in the ume builcr."Q It'd ~ .ito IY&>OO~ aan~on. ,t\d Itrik.. "'0 off., ~a1 Chriftmu rood he,",*" for t\t .I.Ifttm~vtd,) IOlITH ARUCAH COUNCIL 0' CHU*:HU CDtpat'a'nlnt of Hung.,. ."d Rtlltf) uIUThuay t) uecemoer l~l THF; INDEPENDENT 2.. Amnesty begins investigation of SA police A V!smNG Amftesl'\ lnterna· Donal I<&Ill wo1uch t>cpzi 1Il"C>1.", F'nJm Job CartiJl bon, l'nterdo~ inlO allegallOns in Pretoria tNl the South Afncan "'C'lln!) folU> an Ilill ....11Ii • c:amp&lpl Too.~ tbc witnca wbo will be ~ ... open licld aod lOId that if abe .,aln" blad ac1J',1Sl.S Deed I"~"lli befon: tbc COlI1IIliKio[l, 110 alJcglliom that appeared i!l tbc 1D JIIDC this )'Uf. havula CDlltinued with ber 'Ilomem<' 01 fu.nt>cr than tbc capital which" pr=ded O'o'tr by I bIacl _n J'fC". The 0llC: lWIled oft:icrr wort.in& with tbc AN C abe wwId Hen: a commlMKm of ioquil\ barnsl... ;. Is...I Mlt
Nleo BASSON, former major in 1M SA Defenc~ Forc~ andpart-time member ofmiliuJry intelligence, was the first to r~al SA government and miliulry involvement in a total straregy to sustain minority rule. He revealed the top secret SA government's 'Operation Agree' in Namibia in 1989 -Qplan to destabiJise Swapo dw-ing the UN-spoflSOred 435~lections. In June this year he briefedjournalists 0tI how the SADF has deliberately f(lflfl~d township violence, including funding and supplying weapons 10 1M In.katha Freedom Party. Here Basson goes further. He maJces the startling claim that state president FW de Klerk has not OfIly been aware ofthe 'third force' in his midst, but that he is the chiefcommander of the third forc~
y view of the state presi- bas unfolded over the past re-, he is Ittafegy fa 'C¥J lb:xl Jwee'.My !Ol.I"CZ5 oem's in\'Olvc:menl in UK ~iling a moder.'i day HiLl~ a."ld hi! close !b the t'S!b inet informed me that the SA government's double colleaioo ofGoebcls·like aides form an cabinet took I decision, late 1988 or agenda, based on my ex inner circle of brilliant people operating early 1989, that the different state de M tensive involvement close in secret li&k groups. partments should make sure that all the to the centres of power, is quile simple. anti-Swapo parties were 8!ilSistcd. the aim He is not only ....are of all the seaet DMtablIla1ng SwllpO being to ensure that Swapo did DOt 0b strategies aod projects aimed at dCSlabil My story starts in Nam ibia, 1989. Our tain the rc:qu ired two thirds mljority ising those in oppositioo to the National president was then only I membel ofthe during the 435-elcaioDs. ist government, he is also lhe leader of cabinet. PW Botha was in charge, md '~tioo Agrte' was I massive. this sinister plan to maintain white mi· Swapo was the target for mzsivc de&ta ~ion executed in differeot areas, the DOrity rule. biliYtioo. AI that Slage I was a pan-time main aim being to de.stabilise Swapo at President FW de KJerk is DOt the major in military intelligence. AI the the polls. The thrust of this operatioo angel everybody thinlcs he is. same time I WI6 running my own com was funding. personnel and infr'atruv He is IKl Afrika'ler with a ~ioo to munications compely. I was called to lUre ESist.anoe to all the political penics put the cause oflhe Afrikaner fU'Sl. 10 the Nam ibia in January 1989 and was given opposed to Swapo; the use ofbit squads; OODtext of the murderous vioknex that the task ofp'..ming the communicalions Ibe disLort.ion offoreign radio brtJedcasts
special visit was organised by the and the broadcasting ofpropeganda p~ During that operation I was A Administrator General for Kk.rk in grammes in different ethnic languages inchargeofmedia and I rcoeived De 1989, just before the November elec by the SABC into Namibia; the infiJlra- orders 10 report baa to m)' han· tions, to visit Namibia for fll'St hand ex lion of the United Nations Task Group diet 00 I daily ~is. He was perience 00 the execution of 'Operatioo (Uotag); the use of agents and front I Brigadier Ferdie van Wyk from organisations; and the involvement of military intelligence in Pretoria. Agree'. This was before his Ippointmenl _state president. the Administrator Generai in Nam ibis Tnis man reponed dirCuiy to and other stale departments who sided the chief of the lrI11y and the During that visit my colleagues in the with the anti-Swapo parties. c:bief of the defence force and system JIve detailed briefings to De An estimated l.hrce to four billion they, in tum, reported directly 10 KJeR 00 the exeaJtion or 'Opcralioo Agru'. rmds WI6 spent on this opera- tbecabinet.lwasjustthrusteps lion, ifIII the direct and indirect ftil'j Cnxn the at>inct. My rqxx1S There was a deliberate effort made to CXl!i1S are t.aken inIo aa:eunL 1bis were written for the top manage- inform him about the double strategies, operation c:osts SWIPO • two- ment and the cabinet and I 8Cl. in order 10 prepare him for what was still thirds majority in the eledioos, dreacd details in these reports. 10 come in South Africa. Coincidentally and was I dress rehearsal for Apen from the media I was Louis Pienaar w. later appointed to De what is happening in South Af- 8Ware thai the cabinet WE briefed KJeR', cabinet. rica It the moment. OD I daily basis in detail on the Before the end of that year FW de A classic double agenda: to development ofthe campaign in Klerk became the stale president. The theworld,aninternationaltreaty Namibia. De Klcrt was pert of results of the Namibian elections were was openly signed promising to that cabinet. The prcsident also out and the Natiooa~t Pany aeot I high pull out ofNam ibia and to leave bad do5e ties with the Adm inistnltor level delegation ofNat MPS10 the res ion the loc:aJ political parties llone General, Louis Pienaar. to investigate the outcome of the eJcc.. to sort out their own future, and tions. They reponed back to the cabinet acaetly the government em- batted on I destabilisation pro- pmme. Pig. 10· WIP 7i i in the summer of 1989. AfI.er his opening apccc:b iD parliament the state president was linked to the CCB,and these dismantled A new SA atr••gy asked no Jess than three times in hit squads art operating today in this reo connaissancx rtgiment. de Klerk is Al\erthis po6t·moncm session the cabi laterparIiamenlary sessionsiftbe FW the link between the Namibian operation net went into I bush 5ummit in January SA government funded and as 1990. 'They di.scus.sed the results of the 5isted the Dcmoaatic Tumhalle and the operation in the new South Af Namibian elections in the light ofI new A1Wrlce (DTA) Ind 00ler political rica. His days of close conlaCtS with South Africa. Fae:t0f'5 such _the aum parties in Namibia during the transi Louis Pienaar Ind Pik Botha, the men who played a major role in Namibia, are bling of communism and the mOunting tional phase in 1989. He used the Prole(; oontinued in our country at the moment econom ic pressure against South Africa tion ofInformation Ad to avoid answer with a similar, but bigger operation. were also taken into account. 'The result ing the question. Car The only differencx is that be de was 8 strategy for a new South Africa. moted the defencx force from a superior So the era ofrdorm was born. On the Amazing aJmllarttl.. position, to play an equal role with the one: hand the plan w~ to openly dis Thert art amazing similarities between other security services and state depart mantle: the so-called pillars ofapartheid. the operation in Namibia and what is ments in these destabilisation and wealth negotiate with political enemies. unban happening in South Africa at the m() aealing programmes. ment. The same man that was briefed in illegal organisations and release politi Pik Botha said in July on SABC-1V cal ~. This ltrB1egy of negotia : detail in Namibia in 1989 on the seaet after the Inkathagate. scandal that 'we 'Oper~tion Agree' is runnins the coun- .. ; Ition was established to rid the country of oiu ii in the pc;sl and we will 00 it again economic sanaKlns, because th is reform try today. based on the same double in the future'. How can we continue to agenda. Some of the similarities in the: preuss would attract a po6itive interna truo;t this govemment with m~ sc:ac:t tional response. campaign art: projects using huge state resources? It is How~, reform itself, while de • The DTAwas a grouping of political particut.ly the strudurc:s in the cabinet ligned to avel1 the threat of economic and various slate departments that re parties and together with all moderate collapse, cannot ensure survival for the flect not only the existencx of I double parties was funded and assisted by the Afrikaner in terms of retaining power. agenda, but also De KJetk's involve iovernment. 10 South Africa today the Instead, it raised the passibiIitY ment in its management. ---, of a Io&s of power. This brought Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is funded, 8bout I lupplemenlary Itrategy \Ogether with other moderate political The cabinet control. everything lroupings like homeland parties and on another level to walk the tight. In 1979 the Joint Management Commit- rope bet...een the twin thruts of c:hurch groups. to eventually align wilh ec:ooom ic oollapse Ind loss of the National Party in a Christian Dem() tee (IMq was a;tablishcd primarily to power. aatic Alliancx (COA). provide the cabinet with information. Thisseaet part ofthestralegy t The same front organisations and agents ! related to national security. 'The I)'5tem is the desl.abilisation of the Na Ibal wert used in Namibia are being provided for a hierard1ica1strue:turewith tionalist Pany's political opposi utilized in South Africa It the moment. a nationaI security council which had tioo using the KCUrity forces, An example is DixonlSouk & Associ direct acx:ess to the previous ltate presi vigilantes and hit squads to ae Ites, DOW the Q Group, I oommunica- . dent, a regKlnalIMC operating in each ate and sustain violencx. as well lions oompany ax'Itrolling ~ smaller of the regions, sub-JMCs operating at as at.ating negative propaganda. fran axTlrmuCS with SCla'd miliUwy ~ sUb-regional level. and a mini·JMC It is a strategy that was rehearsed ~ \ They are the driving force behind Fida operating at local or polK;:e station leveL am ibia, and the cabinet de-- and Lucas Mangope, to name but two From 1986 greater em phasis was Stoadopt it for the DeW South puppets. 'They art also behind the pr0 placed on coordinating developments in ::a. duction of various propaganda videos problem areas 16 a t;n.l~fr.r-D'!C3SU~ to be open part of this strategy Cor the SABC. whert they haveagents in unrest. k a result the 5tale departments mnounced tothe world a few high po6itions. were more fully incorporated into the .ner the bush summit on 2 • Tbe same special forces ofthe defencx ltrUdure and bodies sud1 as the regional uary 1990 in parliament in Corcc and the police that operated in Inttr rJepartment Committee were dis : Town. It took the world by Namibia to intimidate, in ~rticular in banded. D, Ind as a result of this, &;he north of the country, art managing Towards the end of 1989, the]MC lions started to crumble in the vioknx in So.th Africa at the l1lOO'lClt. was abolished by De Klert and replaced Ilionally. FW de KJerk was five Recoonaissance Regiment and in 1990 by • coordinatiog system in eived as the Gotbachev of Koevoet lire but two groupings with which the security element was remOYCld. ca - a man of integrity and linisterbackgrounds. Five recx:e '5 past is The new system,lcnown 15 the National rm. No one pondered the Coordinating Mechanism, is also a bier that he may possibly be the ardlical Ilrudurt with a Joint Coordi dUdaxTl~of~ third ilrce. nating Committee (JCC)operating at the regional level (See diagram). In ourcountry the cabinet is ooostitu tionally the highest coordinating entity i'l the government ttienlrc:hy, with amlrol DOUBLE AGENDA Page 12· WIP 7i
over all government acttons.lLs compo sition aUows for (our cabinet a»mmi!· Challenges for the ANC tees. Each a»mmiuee i5 beaded by a aenior minister and assists the cabinet in WITH thIa me....ge I am not its policy-making activities. 1be ltate only pointing a finger at FWd. prcsidcnl dlairs the cabinet ~Kns when Klerk and hla government. In the different a»mmillees repon back on fact. four finger. are pointing ~es. different 'The commillccs are for back tothe ANC. My questionto constitutional, cc:ooomic, welfare and them la: what 8Ie you doing with security mailers. 1bc: first three commillccs together thla Information? form pen of the weallh (or economic) Thla I. not the only aealing strategy. The anti-sanClKns drive Information that la available is an integral part of the wealth