WEDNESDAY, 6.00PM
FORMER president FW De Klerk said he was shocked to learn that torture was widely used by South African police under his government: “I deny there was toleration of any such practice,” he told the Truth Commission on Wednesday.
TRC investigations director Glen Goosen told De Klerk that the commission had evidence of 1200 acts of torture by security force members. Several high-ranking officers had confirmed that torture was widespread. De Klerk responded: “That’s terrible.” He said he had never received any information that this was indeed the case during his time as president.
Asked to explain thir force murders of activists, De Klerk warned against accepting allegations that orders for these killings had been made by cabinet ministers. “We are dealing with allegations made by people who are trying to pass the buck.”
Truth commission deputy chairman Dr Alex Boraine said De Klerk could have made a helpful contribution to national reconciliation if he had sought amnesty for the ill-treatment which millions of South Africans suffered under apartheid.
De Klerk said only those guilty of specific crimes should seek amnesty. “When apartheid was at its worst, any individual had free access to our civil courts.”