MONDAY, 3.00PM
JAILED former commander of the Vlakplaas police hit-squad Eugene de Kock was forced to take part in the 1989 Motherwell car bombing to ensure he did not testify against his superiors at the Harms commission of inquiry, his lawyer told before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Monday.
De Kock, who is serving two life terms and 212 years’ imprisonment after being convicted on 89 charges, including six of murder, two of conspiracy to commit murder and several of fraud, arrived at the hearing in a police armoured vehicle accompanied by police and soldiers carrying automatic rifles. It is the first time the apartheid killer, dubbed “Prime Evil” by his colleagues, has appeared in public since his sentencing.
De Kock is one of nine former security policemen seeking amnesty for the bombing, in which three policemen and a police informer were murdered. De Kock is seeking amnesty for the bombing in spite of being granted indemnity against criminal prosecution for testifying at the trial of five security policemen convicted of the murders. “There is a slight possibility that he might be sued in a civil capacity,” his lawyer Schalk Hugo explained. “We also just thought it was another opportunity for him to state his case and say everything that should be said. He wants to say sorry to the families.”
Hugo, told the TRC’s amnesty committee his client will testify that he had been on forced leave, following earlier disclosures of hit squad activities at Vlakplaas, when he was ordered to help plan the bombing. Cross-examining retired security police general Nic van Rensburg, who has also applied for amnesty for the incident, Hugo put it to him that there had been a specific reason for including De Kock in the planning.
“The reason you involved [him] was to make sure he became involved in these activities [thereby] ensuring that he could not afford to give evidence against the generals during the Harms commission. It was of cardinal importance during the Harms commission proceedings that he should testify in favour of the security police. If he did not do that it would be catastrophic for the country and the security forces.”
Hugo said he found it surprising that Van Rensburg, De Kock’s commanding officer at the time, had wanted to include De Kock in the operation when his activities were already under investigation.”