FORMER security policeman Paul Erasmus has given the=20 first explanation of what happened to Mamelodi activist=20 Stanza Bopape, who disappeared without trace in 1987.
Erasmus never dealt with Bopape, but he was told by two=20 of his colleagues that Bopape was beaten to death=20 during interrrogation on the 10th floor of John Vorster=20 Square in 1988. His body was disposed of in a disused=20 mine shaft.
“Torture and beatings were common on the 10th floor. We=20 used to hear the screams from the ninth floor,” he=20
Bopape, general secretary of the Mamelodi Civic=20 Association and an employee of the Community Resource=20 and Information Centre (Cric), was detained on June 10=20
Police have maintained that Bopape escaped from custody=20 while being transported to Vereeniging; a puncture=20 halted the police car and Bopape escaped while the car=20 was stationary. He was handcuffed and in leg irons at=20 the time. Police said he found the keys to his shackles=20 in a policeman’s jacket pocket, freed himself and fled.
Police only told his family of his escape three weeks=20 later, saying that announcing it earlier would have=20 harmed their search for him.
Their search, however, never took them to the home of=20 his family or his place of work.
The SAP at the time appealed to “anyone who may have=20 any information as to the whereabouts of Mr Bopape to=20 contact their nearest police station”.
* The near-fatal poisoning of well-known cleric Frank=20 Chikane was carried out by security police in John=20 Vorster Square, says Erasmus.
Chikane was a target of particular venom among security=20 police, Erasmus says. “The South African Council of=20 Churches (SACC) — which Chikane headed — was the evil=20 empire, and, like the UDF and Cosatu, it had to be=20
“So leading figures were targeted — like Beyers Naude,=20 Wolfgang Kistner, Jessie Duarte, Rob Robertson and many=20 others. Over the years they were the target of many=20 dirty tricks, including blackmail, and the focus of=20 many intelligence operations.
“I was personally involved in the scouting and=20 reconnaissance operations of Cosatu House, Khotso=20 House, Portland Place (where a number of church=20 organisations were based), St Mary’s Cathedral and=20 other buildings that were later bombed by the security=20 branch, or were to be bombed.
“At one stage, I was approached by a senior officer who=20 asked me, hypothetically, if I had the option to=20 permanently remove people from society, who would I put=20 on such a list. At the time, I didn’t realise the=20 gravity, thinking these were people going to be=20 permanently incarcerated.
“I was involved at the time in investigations against=20 Chikane. I put his name on the list and, as a result of=20 a personal grudge, I included Gavin Evans of the End=20 Conscription Campaign (and a Mail & Gaurdian=20
“It is significant that at a later stage, these two=20 names were revealed in investigations into the CCB as=20 people on their hit-list.
“I didn’t take part in the poisoning of Chikane itself,=20 but the scouting operation took place at St Barnabas=20 College, where I believe the organo-phosphate compound=20 was put on his clothes,” Erasmsus said.
* Erasmus says that a number of the limpet mines that=20 went off in central Johannesburg in the late 1980s, and=20 which were blamed on the ANC, were in fact placed by=20 the security police.
These included a bomb in a downtown restaurant which=20 killed two people and a limpet mine outside Anglo=20 American headquarters after chairman Gavin Relly had=20 led a delegation to see the ANC in 1985. Erasmus was=20 personally involved in surveillance for some of the=20 bombs, including those placed in SACC headquarters in=20 Khotso House and Cosatu headquarters.
“On several occasions, we entered Khotso House prior to=20 the bombing of the building. We had ready access to=20 most of the offices and on one occasion stole a video=20 cassette recorder.
“This operation (where we stole the VCR), was led by=20 Lieutenant Rory Steyn (now a major). It was the final=20 scouting operation prior to the bombing. I also=20 sabotaged some of the cars that night in the basement.
“I wasn’t there for the actual bombing, but it was=20 conducted in a joint Johannesburg security branch and=20 Vlakplaas operation. The Cosatu House bomb was a=20 straight Johannesburg security branch operation.”
Erasmus personally firebombed St Mary’s Cathedral, and,=20 in another incident after a drinking binge and an=20 attack on lawyer Kathy Satchwell’s house, his=20 colleagues went on to burn down Alexandra Clinic.
* Erasmus caused severe embarrassment to Democratic=20 Party MP Dave Dalling in 1990 by forging a cheque from=20 him to the ANC for membership fees.
Erasmus was given an intercepted cheque from Dalling’s=20 wife to the ANC for her membership. He changed the=20 signature to that of the MP and wrote a letter on a=20 bank letterhead, purporting to come from “a concerned=20 and despairing South African working in the bank who=20 felt this should be exposed”.
A photostat of the cheque and the letter was delivered=20 to The Star, who printed it — handing the National=20 Party a propaganda victory over the Democratic Party.=20 Nobody noticed the cheque was not stamped and not even=20 Dalling suggested the signature had been changed.
* Radio 702’s John Robbie was the target of an=20 extraordinary Stratcom plan that was never executed=20 “due to pressure of work”, according to Erasmus.
The Stratcom operatives, angered by Robbie’s criticism=20 of the security forces, planned to take him on a=20 township tour and fake an ambush. The plan was that=20 Robbie would be shot in the leg and rescued by the=20 security forces — demonstrating to him the conditions=20 under which they worked and making him grateful for=20 their help.
Stratcom expended some energy on Radio 702, including=20 staging many calls to the station’s talk-back shows. In=20 one case, Erasmus says, he was phoning from his office=20 to argue with 702 guest Chris Hani, when the=20 switchboard operator butted in, saying, “Polisie,=20
* Erasmus used a forged letter to Sinn Fein leader=20 Gerry Adams, purporting to come from ANC executive=20 member Raymond Suttner, to sour relations between the=20 British government and Nelson Mandela’s party.
He wrote and copied Suttner’s signature on an ANC=20 letterhead, confirming an invitation to Adams to attend=20 the ANC’s 1990 Durban conference.=20
A copy of this was fed to the British government to=20 sour their relationship with the ANC, and this was very=20 succesful, Erasmus said.