The Boeremag treason trial on Friday stopped unexpectedly when a state witness claimed he has proof that Boeremag leader Tom Vorster was a CIA and military intelligence agent.
Free State potato farmer Henk van Zyl, a self-confessed Boeremag coup plotter, elaborated on his claims that Vorster was a government agent and worked with police spy JC Smit, who earlier testified that he had infiltrated the Boeremag.
He claimed a news story drawn from the internet site of the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld confirmed his suspicions that Vorster had been ”planted” in the Boeremag and had deliberately misled them.
One of the defence advocates, Piet Pistorius, said Van Zyl’s claims have serious consequences and might result in the defence demanding a trial-within-a-trial to establish the truth of the claims.
He said his clients may have been seriously compromised because Vorster is an accused and was present when his clients consulted with him. He said he needs more time to consult with his clients about the way forward.
Van Zyl showed the court a printout of the story, which he said has since ”disappeared” from the website.
The article referred to rumours that Vorster had worked for the CIA for five years, but quoted police commissioner Jackie Selebi’s spokesperson, Sally de Beer, as refusing to comment on the rumours and saying there were strict orders as to what information could be released.
It further quoted Henri Boshoff, of the Institute for Security Studies, saying that Vorster specialised in the right wing when he was still involved with the collection of covert information for the military before 1994 and had established contact with foreign rightist organisations such as the Ku Klux Klan.
”I know Vorster was in the [Unites States]. He told me until 1994 he was at the artillery base. From there he went to America for five years. There were rumours that he worked for the CIA…
”I believe he [Vorster] was not really what he purported to be. He deliberately misled us. If he had admitted that he worked for military intelligence, we would never have run after him the way we did. We would have used the bullet [killed him as a traitor] there and then,” Van Zyl said.
Van Zyl claimed he had discussed the article with the prosecution, but was told about two weeks ago that he could not use it, as it had no bearing on the case.
He claimed prosecutor Dries van Rensburg had told him he had drawn Vorster’s security clearance and that Vorster was not a government agent, but that Vorster’s wife was an agent.
Van Rensburg told the court there is no information that either Vorster or his wife, Annetjie, worked for the government.
To questions by Pistorius, Van Zyl admitted he believes the state does not want him to give open and honest evidence, but wants him to give evidence that will favour the state’s case.
”There are things that I say in court that they don’t like, especially about JC Smit, but I’m not here to impress the state, I’m here to tell the truth.
”JC was one of the founding members [of the Boeremag] and he was planted there to mislead us. I believe he got money for every guy that was arrested. He was paid and I believe he’s still being paid.
”I’ve lost such a lot — I’m bitter about it,” Van Zyl said.
He believes the police were the ”author of his downfall”.
The treason trialists turned their backs on Vorster and none of them spoke to him on Friday. His only ally in court appeared to be his advocate.
The trial adjourned early on Friday to allow the state and defence to reconsider their positions, but will continue on Monday. — Sapa