OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Thursday
INVESTIGATORS in the case of apartheid chemical warfare expert Wouter Basson had no idea of the murders of hundreds of Swapo detainees and SADF members until apartheid assassin Johan Theron made a full confession “out of the blue”.
Senior Superintendent Dawid Venter, who was at one stage one of the chief investigators in the case against Basson, told the Pretoria High Court that investigators were only aware of an alleged plan to distribute poisoned beer in the Eastern Cape before Theron spilled the beans.
Theron had earlier testified in detail how he had killed “hundreds” of Swapo detainees – and a few SA Defence Force members who were regarded as security risks – by injecting them with powerful muscle relaxants before their bodies were thrown into the sea.
Theron claimed Basson had regularly supplied him with the deadly muscle relaxants and had also had beer and cooldrink infused with tranquillisers so that his victims would not struggle too much.
Venter said Theron had spoken freely and he did not seem concerned about getting indemnity. It was his impression that Theron was under great pressure and that he wanted to get everything off his chest. Theron had asked the investigators not to supply his statement to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was why his statement was not signed.
Theron also pointed out various places to the TRC, including a landing strip where he said four bodies were loaded into an airplane and a forest where he said the detainees were chained to trees overnight before they were killed.
He also pointed out a furnace at Special Forces headquarters in Pretoria, where he claimed that he had helped Basson burn a corpse, which was brought to Speskop in an ambulance from 1 Military Hospital.
Venter’s investigation involved searching for a large number of Defence Force documents. At that stage, the personal files of about five state witnesses had already been destroyed, but the state obtained a warrant to search for other documents.
This included anything on Project Barnacle (the top secret project to eliminate Swapo detainees and other “dangerous” operators), Basson’s staff records and security clearance, information on 1 Military Hospital patients who were allegedly poisoned and information on the alleged supply of muscle relaxants to operators by 1 Military Hospital.
Venter also received documents on Project Barnacle from a former pilot, known only as Mr K, but could never manage to trace the originals.