The Hefer Commission has released the names of some of the 20 people subpoenaed to testify or provide documents following the resumption of the commission on Wednesday.
The list is a who’s who of the current and former intelligence services and is likely to put the commission on a collision course with those agencies which have, until now, been reluctant to grant the commission access to documents or personnel.
First up and summonsed to appear on Wednesday are current police commissioner Jackie Selebi and his apartheid-era counterpart, retired General Johan van der Merwe, who is also a former head of the security police. Also summonsed for that day are the current head of police crime intelligence, Commissioner Ray Lalla, together with his deputy, a Deputy-Commissioner Mphego.
At the time of the alleged African National Congress investigation of National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka in the late 1980s, Lalla was a member of the Operation Vula underground, commanded by one of Ngcuka’s current accusers, Mac Maharaj. Also summonsed for Wednesday is a Charl du Plessis, described as a former member of police intelligence.
The only name down for Thursday is that of James Taylor, a former security policeman who took part in the operation to blow up the ANC offices in London.
Two key witnesses are scheduled to appear on Friday: Mike Kennedy, the retired National Intelligence chief director for counter-intelligence, and Alf Oosthuizen, who headed the security police intelligence unit during the apartheid era.
Oosthuizen applied for amnesty for his role in the ambush and execution in Swaziland of three students attempting to leave the country to join the ANC’s armed wing. But most intriguing is Oosthuizen’s post-1994 role, when he helped put together the empowerment consortium for Cell C and formed a security company, Ukukhula, as a joint venture with some of his erstwhile enemies, including individuals who had been part of Operation Vula.
Also scheduled for November 14 are Defence Secretary January Masilela and the chief director of counter intelligence in the national defence force, Major-General GL Pitso.
On November 17 Maharaj and former Vula operative Mo Shaik are due to make their submissions.