self-protection units (SPUs)

MS ANDERSON: We worked in quite tight, you could say cells, units, departments. You had for example Wally working in the cultural section, you had various people working in Intelligence, you had various people working in MK and it was quite tight, the way in which people worked was quite tight, ...

MR DUBE: If I may go back, yesterday I did explain that I had other duties that I was conducting or doing, I also had other units and my mind was preoccupied with training of these units. If it was not necessary for me to communicate with them, I would not communicate with them, I would continue ...

And then there would be the line functions, those were the units. There was 1 Reconnaissance Regiment which was stationed in Durban, there was 2 Reconnaissance Regiment which was a civilian unit, there was 4 Reconnaissance Regiment which was stationed at Langebaan and then there was also 5 ...

forces cannot be allowed to break the law in order to defend legality. The solution to this problem in many states has been to allow security force units to carry out extra-legal counter-revolutionary acts as long as they are done ...

MR RICHARD: Thank you Sir, I understand that you went backwards and forwards, it's far less complicated. At some time after 1982 you joined the SDUs, the self defence units, when was that?

It is further common knowledge that the call for the establishment of Self Defence Units was made after the suspension of the armed struggle by the African National Congress. And further, there was no stage where the African National Congress called for the disbanding of the SDUs or the ...

MR OOSTHUIZEN: Gen Wandrag was Head of the Unrest Counter Insurgency Unit at Head Office in Pretoria. All the Unrest Units resided below him and he was also in control of Brigadier Daantjie van Wyk, under whose control I was.

... a wish of being put through to me and John. Then he further indicated that their sole purpose of being in the area was that we need to assemble Units, Units which would be in a position to act as the defence of the community, in terms of the threats that we currently were encountering in the ...

... DE KOCK: Chairperson, approximately two to three months later, I asked Warrant Officer Pienaar if he knew anything about a corpse, whether the army units or the patrol units had found anything, whether there had been any queries from the Swazi Police about a corpse, or whether there was any ...

MR LAX: And did you command any other units in addition to that?

... the Compol building was of such a nature that there were security guards who were on duty 24 hours a day and there were also other members of other units who were entering and exiting the building regularly during the day and night. As I have already stated, I saw potential in this person to ...

All of us who left Pretoria went through Grootfontein and there we were divided amongst the various units, amongst the various hospitals. Some of the people who went with us were sent straight to Unita, to be medics for Unita, particularly one chap who used to sleep in the bed next to me in ...

MR ZEELIE: Before I joined the Security Branch, I was involved with the foundation of the Unrest Units in Diepkloof, Soweto, and it was the beginning of 1970 until July 1976, and July 1976 I joined the Security Branch.

MR FRANCIS: But you had to assist all the other units of the police?

MR MAY: If I remember well we were quite a number because in our unit we were two and then there were other units who took part in another police station to the one we were attacking, there was another unit again which took part in the attack in town. I think we were six all-in-all.

Colonel Vorster in this meeting stated that he issued the self-defence units with firearms. They were called SDUs. He stated he also issued firearms to the indunas. He stated that when he issued the firearms he issued letters of authorisation from his office. Colonel Vorster said that the IFP SDUs ...

ADV DLAVANE: So I believe that between yourselves, by "yourselves" I mean the defence units and this vigilante group, what was happening at the time it was like a straight battle between the two groups, is that correct?

... Pretoria Central, Pretoria North, and every district had a District Commandant. Within the division there were also Detective Branches, Unrest Units, Security Branches, with their ...

... was described, this wasn't about political activity, this was about trying to trace weapons. It was the sort of operation that the firearms units in other areas might get engaged ...

... description for police crowd control. Now let me make it clear, I accept that the SAP at the time were looking to expand the riot or unrest control units and I also accept that no third force as a separate force, separate from the SAP and the SADF in the way in which it was discussed at the State ...