Vuyo Mvoko
THE taxpayer is going to pay legal costs for former defence minister Magnus Malan and 10 senior officers in their murder trial which begins in early March in Durban.
General Malan and his co-accused, including former SADF chief General “Kat” Liebenberg, are accused of complicity in the massacre of 13 civilians at KwaMakhuta in KwaZulu-Natal in
The indictment against Malan and the others includes allegations about a secret sub- committee of the State Security Council which approved millions of rands for training Inkatha hit squads in the Caprivi from 1986.
Malan and others were arrested after the Durban-based Investigation Task Unit found secret documents linking them to the training of the hit-squads and the execution of the
Responding to a Mail & Guardian inquiry this week, Lieutenant-Colonel Damien de Lange, on behalf of the Minister of Defence, said defence costs of former SADF as well those of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members involved in trials are and will be borne by the ministry. He would not explain how this decision had been reached beyond saying it was “at the instruction of the Treasury for Finance”. He said he presumed the decision had been taken by the Cabinet.
De Lange said there was no provision to recover the money if the accused were found guilty. He said some would probably not be able to pay back the huge sums involved in their defence.
Office of the President spokesman Parks Mankahlana said the payment of the defence costs of the Malan 20 was never discussed in
The South African taxpayer has already paid out more than R3-million in legal costs for the defence of former policeman, Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock, in a trial which will probably end in March.
African National Congress spokesman Carl Niehaus said the organisation was “extremely uncomfortable” with the situation, but understood the dilemma facing the ministry, and that as long as there was a legal provision it was difficult for the ministry not to abide by it.
However M&G has learned there is some unhappiness about the government paying for the defence of Malan and his co-accused in the recently formed Secretariat for Defence. The Secretariat was established to ensure civilian accountability in the military.