The decision to prosecute apartheid-era minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok and four others was largely welcomed on Tuesday.
The Freedom Front Plus (FF+), however, took exception to the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision, announced on Monday, saying it was a mistake.
Among those who supported the announcement was former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock, who said he was willing to testify against Vlok and former police chief Johann van der Merwe at their upcoming trial.
He told Radio 702 from Pretoria Central Prison that he had already given a statement to the necessary authorities and would cooperate fully with them.
De Kock was adamant that this was only the beginning and other senior apartheid-era officials also needed to be charged.
He said former president FW de Klerk, in particular, had a lot to answer for.
The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) said it was ”particularly pleased” that the matter would be heard in an open court instead of being negotiated in private.
”We hope this approach sets a clear precedent for dealing with similar human rights abuses,” said the centre’s programme manager of transitional justice, Hugo van der Merwe, in a statement.
He said while it was regrettable that prosecutions were being launched 13 years into a new democracy, and more than four years after the completion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), it was not yet too late to fulfil victims’ rights to justice and truth.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) cautioned that the decision to prosecute Vlok and others should not be seen as a witch-hunt.
SAHRC chairperson Jody Kollapen said those who committed crimes during the apartheid era and failed to take advantage of the TRC process knew they could be prosecuted.
”The state has an obligation to prosecute those who have committed criminal offences, and this must not be seen a witch-hunt.”
Skewed
FF+ leader Pieter Mulder said the reconciliation process had been skewed in favour of the African National Congress (ANC) from the outset.
About 22 000 ANC members who were involved in acts of violence were released as part of negotiations before the TRC was set up.
”Following the TRC process, 7 000 people, mainly from the side of the former National Party government, did not receive amnesty. If the current government intends to prosecute everyone who did not receive amnesty … South Africa will be busy with these kind of court cases for the next twenty years,” he said.
The charges against Vlok, Van der Merwe and three former high-ranking police officials relate to an alleged plot to kill Frank Chikane in 1989, when he was secretary general of the South African Council of Churches, by lining his underwear with poison.
Former Vlakplaas security police officer Joe Mamasela told the South African Broadcasting Corporation that he felt vindicated following news that the remains of the Pebco Three may have been found.
In 1997 Mamasela told the TRC hearing into the murder of Sipho Hashe, Champion Galela and Qaqawuli Godolozi that the security police officers applying for amnesty were lying. The three were never burnt and thrown into the nearby Fish River as suggested by the applicants.
Mamasela said: ”The police are lying when they said they shot those people and burned their bodies and threw their ashes into the sea … I refute that … In the TRC, I was branded a liar and an opportunist.”
The TRC refused amnesty to policemen Herman du Plessis, Johannes Van Zyl, Gideon Nieuwoudt and Johannes Lotz because they failed to make full disclosure. Mamasela himself refused to apply for amnesty.
Van der Merwe would not comment on Tuesday night.
”At this stage I am not in a position to say anything,” he told the South African Press Association.
Vlok said: ”I have no comment.” — Sapa