AC/2001/234

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

AMNESTY COMMITTEE

APPLICATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 18 OF THE PROMOTION OF NATIONAL UNITY AND RECONCILIATION ACT NO. 34 OF 1995.

ANDRIES JOHANNES GERHARDUS ERWEE APPLICANT

(AM4135/96)

DECISION

This is an application for amnesty in terms of the provisions of Section 18 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No 34 of 1995 ("the Act"). The present matter is being decided in chambers. The incidents which form the subject matter of the present decision are fully set out in the amnesty application of one of the Applicant's subordinates which had already been finalised by the Committee. Only those aspects relevant to the present Applicant will be repeated herein.

At all material times, Applicant was the Commander of the Intelligence Unit, Internal Security of the former South African Police at Pietersburg. During or about the period 1990 - 1991 some of the members of Applicant's unit were involved in unlawfully entering the office of the Far North Region of the African National Congress ("ANC") in Pietersburg. According to information at the disposal of the Intelligence Unit, certain illegal activities, including the assassination of police officers, were being planned in the offices in question. Applicant's subordinates entered the offices and extracted the necessary information from the records there. In Applicant's view, the information extracted was critical for the purposes of maintaining law and order.

In the light of the said information, it became apparent that the Pietersburg branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions ("COSATU") was a party to the said illegal activities. Under the circumstances, the same group of members of the Intelligence Unit, unlawfully gained access to the offices of COSATU where they removed certain documentation relevant to the said illegal activities as well as equipment, including a photocopier in order to disrupt the activities of COSATU. These items were taken to the offices of the Intelligence Unit and were subsequently removed and destroyed on Applicant's instructions.

Having considered the matter, we are satisfied that the incidents are directly associated with the political struggle which was waged at the time by the then government and its security forces against the liberation movements including the ANC. We are accordingly satisfied that the incidents constitute acts associated with a political objective as envisaged in the Act and amnesty is accordingly hereby GRANTED r

to the Applicant in respect of all offences directly resulting from the unlawful entry at Pietersburg of the ANC offices during or about the period 1990 - 1991 and the COSATU offices during or about 1991, as detailed above.

DATED AT CAPE TOWN THIS DAY OF 2001.

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