Swapna Prabhakaran
THE man who pulled the lever on about 1 500 people did so with a clean conscience, because he knew those he hanged had been sent to him by a judge.
Chris Barnard, now dead, told British television in the 1980s that: ”It didn’t bother me because the person was sentenced to death … and it’s proved beyond reasonable doubt and there’s no extenuating circumstances then he deserves to hang … I hang him and that is the end of it.”
Barnard, who plied his trade for years at Pretoria Central Prison, described in lurid detail his charges’ final seconds. ”I stand right at the back when they come in there, warders lead them, and they walk on to the platform. Under every rope there are two black spoors, and they stand on these spoors.
”They have a white cap on with a flap. The moment you put the rope around his neck they put the strap over his face. He can still see until you put the flap down. Then you pull the lever and they drop.”
After ”13, 14, 15 minutes” the hanged were stripped and examined by a doctor. ”If he’s satisfied of death, then the warder puts a rope around the body with a pulley and they pull him right up to the top and I take the rope off and lower him down into a stretcher into a coffin. I secure the lid with a hammer and nails and they are taken to a graveyard.
”I stand by the door and the minute before they go I pray to God to have mercy on earth and to every one of them. That is the least I could do to a person who has to meet his maker.”
The Pretoria funeral company Saffas took most of the bodies to graveyards around the capital. The company’s director, Kai Von Garnier, said this week that Saffas was unmoved about its involvement. ”We did do it, yes, but it was just a business contract,” he said.
”The government would tender and everyone could apply for the contract. We got the contract because we were cheaper. The cheapest priced company always got the tender and we had the cheapest prices.”