De Klerk ‘acted within law’ on Mthatha raid

The report notes that the allegation by De Kock, who is serving a 212-year sentence for his role in apartheid atrocities, comes with revelations in unpublished Truth and Reconciliation Commission documents that show the former President also attended State Security Council meetings that discussed the formation of a ‘Third Force’; how to ‘shorten’ a list of ‘politically sensitive persons’; and helping the Inkatha Freedom Party set up a ‘paramilitary force’. The Sunday Times says details of the Mthatha raid are contained in TRC records based on testimony from former Defence Force chief, General Georg Meiring. He said the raid was authorised by a meeting of the State Security Council attended by Ministers Hernus Kriel, Pik Botha and De Klerk. The report also notes that during a TRC hearing in 1997, De Klerk walked out when pressed about his involvement in meetings where Third Force operations were discussed. Full Sunday Times report

De Klerk has defended his decision to authorise the Mthatha raid. The FW de Klerk Foundation said: ‘Although the operation was tragically botched, Mr De Klerk himself acted in his capacity as head of government with due deliberation and care and in complete compliance with national and international law.’ According to a report on the IoL site, the Foundation said the raid against the Azania People\'s Liberation Army (APLA) …did not provide evidence that De Klerk ordered illegal murders. According to De Klerk’s autobiography, the Defence Force said that they had the house under surveillance for several days and had corroboration that it was being used by APLA for terrorist purposes. ‘They had no doubt that it was a legitimate target,’ the autobiography reads. He said he was warned that if government did not stop the threat, more terrorist attacks against South Africans would take place across the Transkei border. ‘It was an extremely difficult decision to take and, because it would involve military action in a country that South Africa regarded as independent, it was a decision that I, as head of the government, would have to take,’ De Klerk said. Full report on the IoL site

A threat to lay charges against ANC leaders is the latest development in the apartheid-era crimes saga. A man who lost three family members in a landmine explosion in 1985, says he may lay a charge against the then ANC leaders who ordered the attack. According to Rapport, he is threatening this in response to the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to charge former Minister Adriaan Vlok and ex-police chief Johann van der Merwe with apartheid crimes. Dirk van Eck (58) and his son Erick (22) have sent a letter to the NPA asking for the case against Vlok and Van der Merwe to be withdrawn. If it is not withdrawn, they have requested that the ANC leaders who ordered Operation Kletswayo – the landmine explosion in which members of the Van Eck and De Nysschen families were ripped apart on a private game farm in Limpopo – should be similarly charged. A day after the blast, the ANC claimed responsibility for the attack. Mzondeli Euclid Nondula and Nthetheleli Zephania Mncube, who planted the landmines, were given amnesty by the TRC. The ANC leaders who had ordered the attack, did not apply for or receive amnesty. Full report in Rapport