Vlok and others face charges for apartheid-era crimes

The NPA has filed papers to prosecute former Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok, former police chief Johan van der Merwe, and three others for the attempted murder of Chikane, says SABC News. Vlok has already admitted his involvement in the attempted poisoning of Chikane, and sought his forgiveness. NPA spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said papers had been filed with the Pretoria High Court and the case would be heard on August 17, says a report on the News24 site. Chikane was secretary-general of the SA Council of Churches when his underwear was lined with a poison that attacked his nervous system in 1989. Vlok and Van der Merwe were meant to stand trial in the Pretoria High Court in 2004 after failing to apply for amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), but the NPA reversed its decision to prosecute them. Full SABC News report Full report on News24 site

A prosecution policy on apartheid crimes was tabled in Parliament last year. It includes a clause that gives the NPA discretion on whether to prosecute, if it is not ‘in the national interest’, says a Mail & Guardian Online report. One of the factors to be taken into account is whether the apartheid victim wants the prosecution to go ahead. Chikane has repeatedly asked others to come forward and reveal what happened in 1989, but has never called for prosecution. Following Vlok\'s plea for forgiveness, Chikane said ‘the information I was looking for relating to my near-fatal poisoning has been brought to my attention’. He added: ‘I now know the chain of command to eliminate me. I know the people who were involved and how they did it. I am also told that the people involved, including those who are part of the command structure, are ready to meet me and ask for forgiveness for attempting to kill me.’ Full Mail & Guardian Online report

The alleged perpetrators of another apartheid-era crime will also be prosecuted following news that remains believed to be those of the Pebco Three, murdered by police, were found on a farm near Cradock. According to a report in The Citizen, NPA investigators discovered the remains during a dig on the Cradock farm known as Post Chalmers that previously belonged to the police. The Pebco Three – Sipho Hashe, Qaqawuli Godolozi and Champion Galela – were kidnapped at the Port Elizabeth airport in 1985 by security police and subsequently murdered on the farm. In 1999 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) refused four security policemen – Herman Barend du Plessis, Johannes Martin van Zyl, Gideon Nieuwoudt and Gerhardus Johannes Lotz – amnesty for their involvement in the crime. The widows of the victims opposed the amnesty applications, saying there had not been full disclosure. The four told the TRC that they burned the bodies of the murdered activists and thrown the remains into the Fish River. Lesufi said he hoped that the discovery would force the remaining officers – Nieuwoudt has since died – to come forward and assist the NPA. Full report on The Citizen site

Those who gave evidence on the Pebco Three before the TRC are to be charged, says a report in The Times. Lesufi said: ‘They misled the nation completely, but there is still an opportunity for them to assist us. If not, then we will see them in court.’ The NPA says the men to be prosecuted – besides the security policemen mentioned above – are former Vlakplaas members Gerhadus Beeslaar and Johannes Koole, and askari Peter Mogoai. However, Mogoai was granted amnesty by the TRC in 1999 in respect of the abduction of the three leaders and for assaulting Hashe and Godolozi. Full report in The Times