Money-link in Smit murders?

2006-05-29 19:38

Johannesburg - Could there have been a link between the still unsolved Smit murders and a Swiss bank account that reportedly belonged to late State President Nico Diederichs, a report into corruption under apartheid asks.

The report, released in Johannesburg on Monday, was prepared by the Civil Society in terms of a resolution of the national anti-corruption summit held in March 2005.

According to the report the existence of a secret Swiss bank account, holding R28m and being linked to Diederichs, was uncovered in 1980.

A retired judge, Joe Ludolf, informed the now defunct newspaper, the Rand Daily Mail, of the existence of the account.

Allegedly Diederichs, during his tenure as finance minister, agreed to move the base of South Africa's gold sales from London to Zurich in the 1970s on condition "that a small amount (per ounce sold) ...would be transferred into a private account".

Friend

A huge public outcry led to an investigation by the Auditor-General who found that the "secret account" belonged to a David Mort and contained only R500.

What emerged, however, although it was swept under the carpet, was that Mort was a friend of Diederichs.

Around the same time, it emerged that the Erasmus Commission, that investigated the Information scandal, had also probed the existence of a secret Swiss bank account said to contain R128m.

"It seemed impossible to shake the story that money was being stashed abroad and that Dr Gold (Diederichs) was linked to this in some way."

According to the report the mystery deepened even further when a safety deposit box Diederichs had opened at Volkskas Bank shortly before his death, was found to be empty weeks after he died.

"What evidence had been whisked away?" the report asks.

"Did Diederichs own a foreign bank account to conceal stolen assets, or did it belong to others within the ruling elite (including the Broederbond)?

"Questions remain about the bank account and whether it was linked to the mysterious Smit murders in 1977."

One theory, according to the report, is that Robert Smit was "on to something, possibly involving foreign bank accounts".

Bombshell

"... he indicated to one of his closest colleagues shortly before the murder that he was planning to drop a bombshell that would 'rock the nation and go straight to the top'."

Even though investigations did not yield anything and the murder case remains open to this day, it was generally believed that Smit and his wife Cora were assassinated in their home in Springs.

According to the report this theory was confirmed by a former agent for the bureau for state security, Gordon Winter, to author and journalist Allister Sparks.

Winter allegedly told Sparks that he was the "cleaner" for the Smit murders.

That means that he had to clean the scene of any incriminating evidence before the police arrived.

Winter fled to Ireland, from where he never returned to South Africa.

TRC

The Smit murders were again raised before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

The Commission concluded that the murders were not mere crimes, but were politically motivated.

It was clear from the TRC process that there were still people around who wanted to keep the matter under wraps.

According to the report a surviving daughter of the Smit couple received death threats during the investigation into her parents' murder.

She was also offered a substantial amount of money to buy the family's silence.

The report into apartheid corruption was written by Hennie van Vuuren of the Institute for Security Studies.

- SAPA