Killer's comments irk govt

2003-05-05 16:49

Johannesburg - Officials on Monday described statements made by a white supremacist killer at the trial of a man sentenced to life in jail for the callous slaughter of three black commuters as "disturbing and immoral".

Justice Department spokesperson Paul Setsetse said utterances by Barend Strydom, who shot dead three and wounded seven black people in Pretoria in 1988 but was later pardoned, showed disrespect towards the victim's families.

Strydom criticised the sentence handed down to 30-year-old Jan Gabriel De Wet Kritzinger, who boarded a bus in Pretoria on January 12, 2000, and opened fire, killing the driver, two passengers and wounding four others, and then went into hiding for two years.

Said Setsetse: "It is extremely disturbing that he (Strydom) is now seen as dedicating his time supporting people who kill ...

"It is immoral, insensitive and disrespectful towards the families of the victims," he said.

Shortly after Kritzinger was sentenced to three life terms in jail, Strydom told reporters: "The sentence handed down is a hard, cruel and long sentence."

"Each day in jail for De Wet (Kritzinger) and every other Boer prisoner of war is a day too long."

Strydom achieved notoriety as leader of the "Wit Wolwe" (White Wolves), a white supremacist group, when he opened fire on black people at a square in central Pretoria in November 1988.

He was sentenced to death under the apartheid regime, but was released after serving only four years of his sentence after being given an amnesty during South Africa's negotiations to a democratic transition.

Setsetse also criticised traditional "white" political parties in South Africa for not being more vocal in their own condemnation of Strydom's statements.

"The silence by the white community and political parties with a white membership like the (opposition) Democratic Alliance and New National Party is very interesting. One would expect them to come out against the behaviour of Strydom."

"If there is a perception from the broader community that these political parties reject his comments, people like Strydom may well find it more difficult to operate," Setsetse said.

But the police, who said they were not investigating Strydom's right-wing activities, rubbished the right-winger's comments outside court Friday.

"Strydom does not form part of our investigation," spokesperson Selby Bokaba said. "To us he's a desperate man seeking a profile."

- AFX