/ 3 March 1995

Trial of the bloody bunglers

Tales of incompetence emerged during the trial of the 26 rightwingers who allegedly went on a bombing spree on the eve of the April elections, reports Gavin du

THE rightwing bombing campaign on the eve of South Africa’s first non-racial election, in which at least 20 people were killed, proved to be as vicious as it was incompetent.

The bomb attacks — at Jan Smuts Airport, in downtown Johannesburg and in Germiston — were at the centre of evidence led in the Rand Supreme Court this week during the trial of 26 men charged with 96 counts ranging from murder to illegal possession of explosives.

The court heard that:

* The bomb at the Germiston taxi rank was mounted on a trailer belonging to the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader, Eugene Terre’Blanche.

* AWB members borrowed a car from a Ventersburg resident which was then destroyed in the Bree Street, Johannesburg, bombing.

* AWB members used their private vehicles on the bombing missions.

* AWB members left large quantities of ammunition and explosives in their vehicles at two bases used during the bombing campaign.

At least four former AWB members have testified that they were duped into joining the bombing campaign. Some claimed they were threatened with execution if they attempted to desert.

The star witness for the state, former Ystergarde (Iron Guard) lieutenant Jacob Koekemoer, told the court he had manufactured three of the bombs used in the terror campaign — those used in the Jan Smuts, Bree Street and Germiston taxi rank attacks.

“We were told that the bombs would be used in terrorist attacks against blacks,” he told the court.

Koekemoer said he was an expert in using explosives and held a commercial blasting licence.

The Germiston bomb, he said, was built into a trailer that was the personal property of Terre’Blanche. The trailer’s registration plate was found by police at one of the AWB bases. The organisation had claimed it had lost the trailer during its disastrous Bophuthatswana

The Bree Street bomb, he testified, was built into a green Audi driven by one of the accused, Clifford Barnard. Koekemoer said Barnard had borrowed the car from a Ventersdorp resident who had attempted to get his car back on the day it was used for the bombing.

The trial continues on Monday.