'Communists made me do it'

2007-08-17 14:42

Pretoria - The fear of communism coming to South Africa justified committing acts during the apartheid era which he had subsequently admitted were wrong, former police minister Adriaan Vlok said in Pretoria on Friday.

"We believed we were fighting a very very bad enemy - the communists. I would fight them again", he said.

Vlok was speaking at a press conference at the end of the court case against him, former police chief Johan van der Merwe and three other former high-ranking policemen for the attempted murder 18 years ago of then anti-apartheid activist Frank Chikane.

The five pleaded guilty to the murder attempt and received suspended sentences.

'Desperate times'

"It was desperate times," said Vlok.

During the apartheid years when he looked at international communism such as that in East Europe and Africa, it seemed a "worse threat than apartheid.

"I feared what would happen to this country," he said.

Vlok said at the conference that it would be detrimental for South Africa to carry on with prosecutions for apartheid-era crimes.

He said he could not predict the future of the country, but was concerned about what effect continuing prosecutions for such crimes would have.

"I don't know [about the future]. I'm not a prophet, but I'm concerned... about forgiveness and reconciliation."

"We cannot carry on prosecuting tit-for-tat."

The alternative he suggested was: "I think it is time to sit down again and look at what went wrong with the first TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission). It is not satisfactory to carry on with prosecutions."

Attorney for the accused Jan Wagener said the best thing for the country would be to have no more prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes.

Selective prosecution could be seen as "immoral," said Wagener.

"Should there be a fairy godmother drawing names from a hat?"

He said full prosecution would "take the country nowhere".

Wagener also said if prosecutions did continue they would have to include anti-apartheid activists.

"It was a very serious political conflict. It takes two to tango. One man's freedom fighter is another guy's terrorist."

Wagener said the idea of "just cause" was an ongoing debate.

However, Vlok did say that as part of their plea-bargain, they would have to testify if more people were prosecuted by the National Prosecuting Authority.

Vlok said he and Van der Merwe had decided to "come clean" because they had decided to "try and stop living with all the lies" in South Africa.

He said he had already asked for forgiveness earlier and was now focusing on "small, little deeds" to repair the past.

"The time is past for the big thing on the big screen."

'He is my brother'

Instead Vlok urged apartheid officials to "tell the truth, tell everything, look the mothers in the eye".

He said he had met mothers who were asking where the bones of their children were and those were the people who should be helped.

Vlok also said the list on which Chikane's name appeared was never a hit list.

"I never regard that list as a hit list. The emphasis was not on taking people out it was on helping the country in preventing them [anti apartheid activists] from being successful".

Van der Merwe said the list was about trying to "neutralise" the effect of activists responsible for bloodshed.

Only in "extreme" cases was the decision to "eliminate" them, he said.

Vlok said that he had not felt uncomfortable earlier being in court with Chikane.

"He's my brother," he said.

- SAPA