JUDGE WILSON: ... finally arrived. I would have liked to have apologised to the members of the public and others who are here for the hearing, which was supposed to start at
9 a.m. I am told, for the fact that we are considerably later than that and explain that there were problems in that the applicant is in prison at the moment, and he was brought here but there was some difficulty in finding where he was being detained in this building, as it is not a building normally used for these purposes and that consequently delayed council's chance of interviewing his client and that is what has delayed the commencement of proceedings.
Before we start on today's matter, there is one further matter I would like to raise with Mr Black and that is the case set down for Thursday, no it is set down for Friday, the last day which was an offence allegedly committed on the day of the election and we would like Mr Black to confirm that the Act has been properly amended to extend the date to - that cut off date has properly been extended to that date, but there is nothing you have to do now. If you could in the interim period check on that.
MR BLACK: I shall do so Mr Chairman.
JUDGE WILSON: Right, what are we starting with today?
MR BLACK: Mr Chairman, we will commence with the case of Mr Vernon Vosloo, it is case number 1003/96. It is in fact the only matter that will be heard today.
Mr Vosloo is legally represented. He is represented by Adv Malan, instructed by Mr Nel of the firm of attorneys
M.S. van Niekerk of Pretoria.
Mr Chairman, at the outset, if I may just mention that in this particular instance, the deceased was never identified and throughout the trial of Mr Vosloo, the identity of the deceased remained unknown. As a consequence, next of kin and victims, we were unable to trace any of them.
My learned friend Mr Nel and I have both made extensive efforts, research and numerous efforts in order to obtain a copy of the judgement and the court proceedings, which took place when Mr Vosloo was tried for murder. A letter dated 4 of April was handed to me by Mr Nel which I have requested, being given to the Chairman and the learned members of the panel which sets out the various efforts that have been made.
It would appear that it is not possible to obtain a copy of the court record, it seems to have been drawn in October some time ago, last year, and it has not been returned to the archives.
So the only documentation which we, on behalf of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have in our possession, are the documents which are now before the panel and I am given to understand by Mr Malan, that he has no intention of handing additional documentation.
I submit therefor that the matter is ready to be heard.
JUDGE WILSON: We have had an opportunity of reading the letter of the 4th of April 1997, addressed to the Committee and would like to thank Mr Nel or the other members of the firm who made all the efforts they did to attempt to obtain the missing information.
It appears from the letter that they personally visited
a number of places to try to get this information, and we are extremely grateful to them for it. One matter that does cause me distress, is the fact that a file can be removed and thereafter disappear and I request that the relevant authorities continue to make enquiries as to how this file, and why this file, was removed by the woman named in the letter, on the 14th of October 1996 and to obtain a statement from her as to what she did with the file.
And to investigate as to whether there was any ulterior motive in what she did because there have been other cases which we have been concerned with, where dockets and files have also disappeared, and I feel the time has come where the matter must be fully investigated and I request that that be done.
Not by the firm of attorneys concerned, but by the relevant authorities, thank you. You may proceed.
MR BLACK: Mr Chairman, the applicant has been convicted of a crime of murder in September 1993. Allegedly committed on the 10th of May 1992, near Suidheuwels in the District of Johannesburg.
The applicant is present and wish to proceed with his application.
ADV DE JAGER: Verkies U om getuienis in Afrikaans te gee? Please stand.
VERNON VOSLOO: (sworn states)
MR BLACK: Should he stay seated Mr Chairman, I just want to enquire, may he stay seated whilst giving evidence? Thank you.
EXAMINATION BY ADV MALAN: Mr Vosloo, what is your age currently?
INTERPRETER: The applicant is not using the microphone.
ADV DE JAGER: Also draw the microphone slightly closer to yourself.
ADV MALAN: You are currently in the Pretoria Central prison, where you have a prison sentence of 15 years, you were found guilty on murder.
ADV DE JAGER: Mr Malan, they are interpreting at the same time while you are talking, if you could give them some opportunity otherwise we will overlap.
ADV MALAN: Thank you Mr Chairman. Can you remember the date in September on which you were found guilty and ...
MR VOSLOO: It was the 8th of September.
ADV MALAN: That is approximately three and a half years ago, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: That is correct.
ADV MALAN: Could you indicate to the Committee where you grew up, in what part of Johannesburg you grew up?
MR VOSLOO: I grew up in the south of Johannesburg. The majority of the people in that area are conservative people.
ADV MALAN: What do you mean by the term "conservative"?
MR VOSLOO: We all know what conservative is, these are people who believe in their own thing - their political motives and that kind of thing.
ADV MALAN: While you grew up, how did you experience the Black people in this country?
MR VOSLOO: As long as Black people did not come into conflict with me, and as long as their ways and goals were not enforced on me, I did not have any problems with that, but I did not want any interference with myself from them.
ADV MALAN: Before the incident for which you were found guilty, did you have any other problems with people of other colours in the population? Did you come in conflict with
them in any way?
MR VOSLOO: While we grew up, there were always Black people around and from time to time one would meet people along the road, and there would be some conflict.
ADV DE JAGER: Mr Malan, just a moment, if I look at the journalists, it would appear as if everyone is having difficulty with the hearing apparatus.
Possibly you could draw it somewhat closer to yourself, the microphone that is. My hearing aid is humming and I can hardly hear.
ADV MALAN: Okay, just use this microphone so that everyone can hear. Okay Mr Chairman, is this better? Is it now better? Thank you Mr Chairman. Okay, Mr Vosloo, how did you then experience the people in the area where you lived and moved around there, were you in conflict with them or not?
MR VOSLOO: As I said, from time to time, we were in conflict.
ADV MALAN: So you showed enmity towards them, do I understand you correctly or not?
MR VOSLOO: There was enmity in the sense that I didn't want them to be in control of my life.
ADV MALAN: How did you regard this matter of being in control of your life, when would that be the case?
MR VOSLOO: Well, in a case like now, they were governing and in control, they would be in control of the whole country.
ADV MALAN: Were you then prepared to do anything in order to avoid this so that they take over control of the country, the government as you refer to it now?
MR VOSLOO: I wanted to do something and in due course I
did. And the situation arose and I went and a man regarded by me as a threat to me, I killed.
ADV MALAN: What was your involvement before this incident, in political organisations in this country?
MR VOSLOO: I was not a registered member of any organisation, although I was a strong supporter of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, the AWB. I felt that they were basically moving in the correct direction and I associated with this trend.
ADV MALAN: Did you participate in their movements, meetings, etc?
MR VOSLOO: I watched their meetings and that type of thing and I was watching what the people did and thought about them.
ADV MALAN: And according to your understanding, what did they say should happen to counteract the political events? What was the general feeling?
MR VOSLOO: The general feeling amongst the people was to resist a take over.
ADV MALAN: You were not an official as such or an enrolled member of one of these movements, were you?
MR VOSLOO: No, I wasn't.
ADV MALAN: Did you regard the Black population as a whole as a threat or just members of a political organisation like the ANC?
MR VOSLOO: I regarded Black people in general as an opposition party in the country.
ADV MALAN: If we could then continue with the incident of 10 May 1992, regarding which you will be speaking to the Committee here today. Could you please tell the Committee what happened there on that particular day?
MR VOSLOO: We were standing next to the road, having a few drinks.
ADV MALAN: You are referring to the plural "us", were there other people with you there?
MR VOSLOO: I wasn't alone, there were people with me, a few friends.
ADV MALAN: Okay, continue. You say you were standing next to the road, what time of the day was this?
MR VOSLOO: It was in the evening, probably about ten o'clock.
ADV MALAN: What were you drinking?
MR VOSLOO: Strong liquor and also lighter alcoholic beverages, like beer.
ADV MALAN: What was your state of intoxication at that stage?
MR VOSLOO: It is difficult to say exactly, but I was reasonably drunk at the time.
ADV MALAN: Was it close to a shopping centre of just in a residential area or where was it?
MR VOSLOO: It was in a residential area, in front of a shopping complex.
ADV DE JAGER: Could you perhaps give us the detail where, which residential area, which shopping centre so that we know exactly what you are talking about.
MR VOSLOO: It was just a cafe with a video shop next to it and the Black man passed there. I went to my car, I took out a knife, I followed him and about 30, 40 metres further on from that point, I grabbed this man from behind and I stabbed him to death.
ADV MALAN: The Honourable Member of the Committee asked you which shopping centre it was and which residential area?
MR VOSLOO: ; Sorry yes, it was in the South Hills suburb of Johannesburg, in the south.
ADV MALAN: And the shopping centre didn't have a specific shopping centre name?
MR VOSLOO: No, it was just a little cafe there.
ADV MALAN: The deceased concerned, I will refer to him as the deceased, did you know him from before the incident?
MR VOSLOO: No, I didn't know him.
ADV MALAN: So it was the first time that you saw him?
MR VOSLOO: Yes, it was.
ADV MALAN: Did he do anything or was he wearing any clothing that provoked you? What gave rise to your particular actions on that evening?
MR VOSLOO: He didn't to anything to me, he walked passed. He walked passed and I saw him as the person who could possibly govern me some day.
ADV MALAN: Just to put it in this perspective then, why did you do it, why did you act on that particular evening in that manner?
MR VOSLOO: At the time of the deed, the political climate was of such a nature that I was afraid that at the end of the day, I would not have a say in anything. And the man who was walking passed there was to me part of that which I was afraid of.
ADV MALAN: The people who were there with you, did they assist you in any way in your actions?
MR VOSLOO: The people there with me did nothing, they just stood there.
ADV MALAN: They also didn't edge you on, do I understand you correctly?
MR VOSLOO: No, they didn't.
ADV MALAN: Okay. The knife which you fetched from your vehicle, why was the knife in the vehicle, what was the
purpose of carrying it in the vehicle?
MR VOSLOO: The knife was always in the vehicle for braai purposes. I didn't braai all that often, the knife was there for use when I required it.
ADV MALAN: How far away were you from the vehicle?
MR VOSLOO: We were standing next to the vehicle.
ADV MALAN: Where specifically in the vehicle, was the knife?
MR VOSLOO: In the back, in the boot.
ADV MALAN: When you took out the knife, where was the deceased - the approximate distance away from you?
MR VOSLOO: He was probably about 20 metres away from me.
ADV MALAN: Did he walk passed you closer and was he then on his way away from you?
MR VOSLOO: Yes, he was walking passed on the opposite side of the street.
ADV MALAN: In which manner did you follow him, did you run, jog, walk?
MR VOSLOO: I walked quite fast, just short of jogging to follow him.
ADV MALAN: Did the deceased ever see you coming?
MR VOSLOO: I doubt it, I don't think so because I was approaching from behind.
ADV MALAN: Can you please inform the Committee what happened when you reached the deceased?
MR VOSLOO: I got to him, I grabbed him from behind and from that position I stabbed him from the front in his chest, any way I could reach.
ADV MALAN: Do you know how many stab wounds you
inflicted on him?
MR VOSLOO: From the post mortem I read that I had
stabbed him 14 times.
ADV MALAN: Where were these stab wounds?
MR VOSLOO: It was all over his body, in his chest, wherever there was place to stab him.
ADV MALAN: Did the deceased resist in any manner against your attack?
MR VOSLOO: No.
ADV MALAN: And after your stabbing him, what happened to the deceased?
MR VOSLOO: The deceased dropped to the ground and remained laying there.
ADV MALAN: He probably died there, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: Yes.
ADV MALAN: When he was laying on the ground, what did you do then?
MR VOSLOO: I moved back to my car and I drove off.
ADV MALAN: During the trial where you were found guilty, did your friends testify against you, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: Yes, that is correct.
ADV MALAN: If you were to judge your actions on that particular day, did anybody contribute towards your activities, edging you on, in the broader spectrum of things, not just your friends? In the light of political speeches of the time, etc?
MR VOSLOO: The then climate on the eve of the take over was of such a nature that the Afrikaner felt threatened to do something not to be taken over without resisting in any way.
JUDGE WILSON: Did you call this resisting?
MR VOSLOO: At the time of the crime I did think it was the correct action.
ADV MALAN: If you were to look back today to the incident, how do you feel about it?
MR VOSLOO: I don't believe that I have the vocabulary to say how sorry I am about what I did. I took the life of an innocent person and it is something which no rational person will do.
ADV MALAN: Do you still think that you achieved anything by your activity, that you could do anything?
MR VOSLOO: At this stage no, because the take over is over and things at this stage are not as bad as we had thought at the time, they would be.
ADV MALAN: Was there any other reason for your action against the deceased except for this political motive of yours?
MR VOSLOO: No, definitely not.
ADV MALAN: What was the influence of your alcohol consumption on the particular incident that took place?
MR VOSLOO: The alcohol made me act irrationally. And that which was passing through my mind at that stage incited by the alcohol, made me do this.
ADV MALAN: If you were sober on that particular evening, would you have acted in that particular way?
MR VOSLOO: No, I doubt it because any rational person would certainly have found other ways of resisting.
ADV DE JAGER: Mr Vosloo, if that was the position as you have testified now, then according to your own version you are saying that the alcohol which you've consumed, was the cause of the deed you committed and not any political motive which you wish to achieve.
MR VOSLOO: Sir, that is perhaps a wrong way to put it. The liquor perhaps gave me the false courage to act in accordance with that which I felt so strongly.
MS KHAMPEPE: Mr Vosloo, what did you hope to achieve by killing a person who was walking passed you and what political objective did you have in mind and what were you hoping to achieve politically?
MR VOSLOO: I didn't just want to sit still and allow myself to be taken over and ruled by an opposition party.
MS KHAMPEPE: So by killing a person, this particular person, who was walking past where you and your friends were drinking, you were hoping to resist the take over, is that what you want to convey to us?
MR VOSLOO: The general talking that was going on at that stage, was that everybody felt that manner and in that way and I felt that I had to do my little bit and that I wouldn't be taken over without any resistance.
JUDGE WILSON: Are you seriously suggesting that everybody felt that they must kill any Black person they saw?
MR VOSLOO: If that was your conviction and you found yourself in that position that you had to resist in some way or another, then you will act in the manner that you thought fit and at that stage I thought that was what I had to do.
MS KHAMPEPE: Mr Vosloo, were you ...
ADV MALAN: Excuse me, Mr Chairman. Mr Chairman, I would just like the Committee to confirm that the applicant fully understands the English language. He has been told about the facilities, translation facility, if he is comfortable.
MS KHAMPEPE: Mr Vosloo, would you like to use your headphones for ease of translation to Afrikaans, the language which I am sure you will feel more comfortable
with.
JUDGE WILSON: Has his earphones ... (tape ends)
ADV MALAN: I am told that the adjustments had been made.
MS KHAMPEPE: To just make a follow up to a short question which I wanted to put to you Mr Vosloo, were you aware at the time of the commission of this offence, that negotiations were taking place at Kempton Park during the Nationalist Party led government and other role players, which included various political organisations and liberation movements, were you aware of those negotiations taking place?
MR VOSLOO: Yes, I was aware of those.
MS KHAMPEPE: Now, I would presume that the take over that you were so scared of and that you wanted to resist, was as a result of the negotiations which was taking place at Kempton Park. Would I be correct in my assumption?
MR VOSLOO: Excuse me, could you just repeat?
MS KHAMPEPE: Were you scared of the take over from the Nationalist Party led government by the Black people which you regarded as a threat because of the negotiations that were taking place at Kempton Park?
MR VOSLOO: Yes, I was afraid of that.
MS KHAMPEPE: Now, in that context then Mr Vosloo, did you not regard the Nationalist Party as a threat because they had initiated those negotiations?
MR VOSLOO: Perhaps to a certain extent, yes, because by doing so they would have me ruled by a party of a different colour.
MS KHAMPEPE: So you therefore regarded the Nationalist Party as having sold out on the ideals of the Afrikaner people and they therefore were the correct political target
for you to have directed any of your attempts at resisting such a take over. Why did you not launch any attack against the establishment or anything that would have been associated with the Nationalist Party and why did you decide on an innocent person whom you knew very little of?
MR VOSLOO: At the time of the crime, I did not really regard the National Party as my opposition. That which I regarded as my opposition, what I saw was that Black people would be governing the country, and that was what I was afraid of.
MS KHAMPEPE: You can continue sir. I am sorry to have interrupted you.
ADV MALAN: Thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Vosloo, if it had been a White person who walked passed you on that evening, would you have acted in the same way or not?
MR VOSLOO: If a White man walked passed me, he would just have walked passed. I did not see the White man as a threat.
ADV MALAN: Did you consider this threat only to come from Black people or all the people in the country other than White people?
MR VOSLOO: The vast majority who wanted to take over the country, were Black. Therefore, in general I saw the threat at being Black people, as well as at the same time, other people of other colours. There are coloured people who might look Black, but generally other race groups presumably than White, I would have seen as my opposition.
ADV MALAN: You have completed an application for amnesty and you have a copy of this application, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: That is correct.
ADV MALAN: You would stand by the submissions or the
statements made in the application, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: That is correct.
ADV MALAN: You also refer to it that you consider yourself to be a supporter of the AWB, the Afrikaner Resistance Movement or Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: That is correct.
ADV MALAN: Can you remember what the threats of the AWB had been at that time? What would they have done if there was a take over or if the negotiations continued?
MR VOSLOO: The talk was that people had to take up arms. That is the single message that remained in my mind, that people had to take up arms to protect themselves against the rule of others.
ADV MALAN: Did you at any time consider the taking up of arms as a full scale race war between Whites and Blacks or a war between the army and Blacks, or how did you consider this for yourself, what was your view of this?
MR VOSLOO: I would have said "yes". The Afrikaner people felt threatened and the message which was given to the people, was that people had to take up arms and defend themselves and that is what I did.
ADV MALAN: How did your action link with this view?
MR VOSLOO: Although I was not directly a member of the AWB, I was a serious supporter of their movement. It was my feeling that I am an Afrikaner similar to them and that I had to act in this manner, in the manner expected of an Afrikaner.
ADV MALAN: The question whether you considered the National Party as your enemy, did you consider the National Party to be acting voluntarily in the hand over of power?
MR VOSLOO: Please repeat that?
ADV MALAN: How did you experience this, did the National Party act voluntarily out of their own choice by handing over power, or how did you feel?
MR VOSLOO: The political changes I think, forced them in that direction. They had no real choice whether they wanted to or not, they had to negotiate.
ADV MALAN: Did you ever consider joining one of the action groups such as the AWB, I've heard the term "storm troops", did you consider joining one of these action groups at any time?
MR VOSLOO: I am a solitary person, I see things very individualistically. I understand things in my own view and I act in those terms. If things continued in that direction and if I was forced to join such a action group, I might have, but I would still have preferred to act on my own and do things in my own way.
ADV MALAN: Did you agree with their goals in all senses or in - with the views of their leadership?
MR VOSLOO: No, not always. The basic principle that we had to act against the people who wanted to take over, with this I agreed. That we had to resist such a take over, with that I agreed.
ADV MALAN: In terms of your views of that time, would the attack on the deceased have been considered as part of an armed struggle or not?
MR VOSLOO: Certainly, I would claim that. The climate at that time was such that people had to resist, they had to act against a take over. I felt that I had made a contribution in this regard.
ADV MALAN: Thank you Mr Chairman.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY ADV MALAN: .
ADV MALL: Mr Black.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR BLACK: Thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Vosloo, just to clarify some issues. In your application form and in your evidence, you always refer to the AWB as having seen some of their meetings. Now is it correct, did you ever attend any of these meetings of the AWB, any rallies held by the AWB?
MR VOSLOO: I saw on television that there were AWB meetings, that there were other rightwing groups who had meetings, that is how I kept up to date with what took place. I also knew many people who actually attended these meetings and in that way I kept up to date. Personally I did not directly attend any such a meeting.
MR BLACK: Am I correct in understanding then that your knowledge of the aims and goals and purposes of the AWB organisation depends solely on what you've seen on the media and on what certain people have told you who have attended their meetings, you have no personal - you personally did not actively participate in any of these political organisation's activities, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: I did not attend these functions, but the goals were the same and I supported these goals. The people who spoke to me after such meetings, who shared these things with me, were for me equally as worthwhile as the people who actually spoke and acted at the meetings. My work was of such a nature that I could not simply go away at any time to attend a meeting. I worked 12 hour shifts, it might have been day or night shifts. Sometimes I worked longer hours than that. With the consequence that I depended on my friends who attended these meetings to inform me of the
events, to keep me up to date and then also what I saw on television.
MR BLACK: On that issue, what was the nature of your work? What were you employed as?
MR VOSLOO: I was a security officer at the Johannesburg City Council.
MR BLACK: As far as your evidence goes, you say that after this killing you got into your - prior to the killing you pursued the deceased, and you attacked him from behind, after this stabbing him 14 times in the chest, you then got into your car and drove home, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: No, I did not drive home, I drove around and somewhat later that evening, I stayed in my car, I slept in my car, apologies.
MR BLACK: But you were sober enough to drive the vehicle, is that correct?
MR VOSLOO: If you want to consider that driving, yes, the Investigative Officer who investigated the case at that time, saw me drive. When I stopped in front of some of my friends' home, he came to me and he spoke to me very seriously because I drove like a maniac. He asked me to stay in the car and to sleep in the car rather than drive off and that is what I did in fact.
MR BLACK: At the time of your committing this murder, I put it to you that the deceased was killed and murdered by you simply because he was Black. Is that not so?
MR VOSLOO: I killed this man because I saw him as a person of the opposition party that would govern me, yes. In that sense, yes.
MR BLACK: In that frame of mind that you were in, would you have killed all Black people that you saw in the street?
MR VOSLOO: At that time my state of mind after days and months, was conditioned to act against people of other colours, of other races. If any other Black man walked passed me, I would most certainly have attacked him also.
MR BLACK: And I assume that you worked with Black colleagues, is that correct, at that time.
MR VOSLOO: That is the case, yes.
MR BLACK: Had you made up your mind, when did you decide, let's put it that way, to start killing Black people?
MR VOSLOO: I would not say that I can give you a specific time. The circumstances at that time was such that one thing followed another. Through the course of time resistance built up, our fears grew. Fears that we would eventually be taken over entirely and we would have no say any more in our own lives. I would say that it was something which came over time, it built up to a climax.
JUDGE WILSON: I have been asked to take a short adjournment at this stage, to enable those responsible for doing so, to make adjustments to the recording devices which we are using. So I propose to do so. We will now take a short adjournment.
COMMISSION ADJOURNS - ON RESUMPTION
MR BLACK: ... bypasser.
MR VOSLOO: I wanted to get people to realise that we were not just going to surrender, that we were not going to simply allow some foreign party to take us over, to rule over us.
INTERPRETER: Can the English be heard? Is the English interpretation available?
MR BLACK: Thank you Mr Chairman.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR BLACK: .
JUDGE WILSON: Re-examination?
ADV MALAN: Thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Vosloo, how did you think would this and attack on and the death of the particular deceased person, influence the political events? INTERPRETER: Is the interpreting available? Could someone give an indication whether it is available?
MR VOSLOO: We thought that people would note that we are simply not willing to be taken over, that they might simply act more carefully rather than try and run over us.
MS KHAMPEPE: I think Mr Vosloo, I think we have a problem with the English translation. We don't seem to be picking up anything.
INTERPRETER: Can't you hear? Can't you hear the English. It seems that no one is hearing the English translation.
ADV DE JAGER: Mr Malan, you may continue
ADV MALAN: I think the question was Mr Vosloo, if I remember correctly, what did you think would have been the effect on the political process, what would you achieve in terms of an effect by the act committed during May 1992?
MR VOSLOO: As I said, I had hoped that the opposition of that time and the government would see that the Afrikaner would not simply sit back and wait for another party to rule over them and to dominate them. The intention was for them to take note of the fact that we are dissatisfied with the changes.
ADV DE JAGER: Could you explain to me how this was supposed to come to their notice. Would you have made a press statement the next day to say listen folks, I am going to kill you if you don't stop the negotiations or the take over, or whatever. If you simply find a corpse in a street, how could this in any way contribute some influence on the
political process?
MR VOSLOO: Sir, the media and those who work with them are always well aware of what happens and what does not happen. They see to it that there is coverage of whatever incident or situation occurs. They know of these things. I knew that the matter would appear in the newspapers and the people intended to, would take note of it.
JUDGE WILSON: As was put to you by Mr De Jager, what would have appeared in the newspaper is what unfortunately appears with great regularity in our newspapers, that the body of an unidentified man who had been stabbed to death, was found laying in the road.
MR VOSLOO: What also was said in the newspaper was who was responsible for the death of the unknown deceased person and in which neighbourhood this occurred. I believe that the people for whom I intended to take note of this, did in fact take note of it.
JUDGE WILSON: Did you intend to be arrested and have your name publicised
MR VOSLOO: At the time I had possibly not thought of it in that way, but subsequently I was glad that my effort to make my point, did not pass unnoticed. I must add that I am not glad at this time that the man is dead, I am not happy about the fact that I killed the man. I want you to see that it was the goal that I, or the point of view that I wanted to communicate. I do not want to indicate that I am happy at this stage that I had killed the man.
MS KHAMPEPE: Mr Vosloo, I thought in your earlier testimony you had made it quite clear that you would not have committed this offence had you been sober? Is that not what you had said earlier on?
MR VOSLOO: It is what I said earlier on. But at the same time, I want to refer you to something else I said namely that with the changes during those times, and with the emotions of people which was fired up more and more, this was something which started small, but which grew and grew. The evening of the act, I gained Dutch courage - some additional courage - through the use of the alcohol. At a later stage, if feelings would have grown hotter, if the scenario of the future appeared even worse than it had at that time, then I might have acted in this way without the use of alcohol. This is a possibility at this time, I can't say what I would have done at a later stage, this is merely something which might have happened.
JUDGE WILSON: You also said that any rational person would have found another way of protesting. Do you recollect saying that?
MR VOSLOO: Yes, I can.
JUDGE WILSON: Thank you.
ADV MALAN: No further questions, Mr Chairman, thank you.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY ADV MALAN: .
JUDGE WILSON: Thank you. He may return. Any further witnesses?
ADV MALAN: No further witnesses, Mr Chairman.
JUDGE WILSON: Is that your case?
ADV MALAN: That will be the total case, yes.
JUDGE WILSON: Do you have anything to - evidence to lead or witnesses?
MR BLACK: We have no evidence to lead, Mr Chairman.
JUDGE WILSON: ; Are you ready to address us?
ADV MALAN ADDRESSES
ADV MALAN: Yes, I am ready Mr Chairman. In terms of the Act in order for the application to be successful, must
comply with three prerequisites, requirements of the Act and all the relevant facts must be revealed properly and fully.
INTERPRETER: I suggest that the speaker's microphone has cut out.
ADV MALAN: I submit that this has been the case that full revelation has been made of all the facts as well as the reasons why this had occurred.
The question then with respect is whether it was committed with a political motive and in the progress of conflicts of the past.
Section 2 then defines the political objectives and I submit that the applicant bona fide believed that what he did, would promote a political struggle.
The struggle which existed in his mind, the struggle against Black rule. And that as he had set out, that the action wouldn't have taken place if a White person had walked passed and perhaps even not a person of another colour, it was something that was motivated by a fear of being ruled, of not being able to decide things for himself any more.
In addition then also a political objective is defined as if it would have been in reaction against a political uprising and what the motive for the deed or the crime had been.
The applicant pointed out that he had acted in reaction to the changing political climate in the country. The apparent, as he had indicated during the negotiations, the process of handing over of power from the traditional White to a probably Black government.
And that this action, or this act had taken place not for any other reason, and the crime had not been committed
for any other reason, than that it was of political orientation. And that in that manner he had tried to make a mark to delay the process or to derail it totally.
JUDGE WILSON: Did he make no attempt to join any political party where he could have made a mark, he rather killed an innocent bystander. Would you explain that, this is not a man who was joining in the political struggle, he didn't attend meetings. He sometimes watched them on television, or listened to people who had been there?
ADV MALAN: That was the case Mr Chairman, as he had testified, he was fully aware of the objectives of the political movements with which he associated and he believed that he had listened to the cause to an armed struggle and that he had participated in those objectives.
MS KHAMPEPE: But Mr Malan, how could a killing of one Black person who is not prominent in any way politically, prevent a take over or even derail negotiations which were taking place between the government of the day and certain liberation movements?
ADV MALAN: Well naturally Mr Chairman, if one looks at his deed, it was an extremely foolish and unthought out action, but it is nevertheless that at that stage he was of the opinion that he could make a contribution.
MS KHAMPEPE: Was it proportional then to the political objective which he wanted to pursue?
ADV MALAN: Could you please repeat the question?
JUDGE WILSON: The Act makes provision for proportionality to be taken into account.
MS KHAMPEPE: Was his act therefore proportional to what he intended to achieve politically?
ADV MALAN: Mr Chairman, yes, that is the only objective which he wished to achieve and once again in his thoughts it would have had an effect and would have been in proportion to that which he strived against, the transformation of a country.
ADV DE JAGER: Mr Malan, if one strives for an objective and you wish to opposition to take cognisance of the objective, so that it can influence them in order for them to act differently from that way in which they have acted up to that particular point, then one has to direct one's deed or expression in some or other way and bring it to their attention so that you will influence their way of thinking.
Now, Mr Vosloo said to us that at that stage he had not expected to be arrested and that the murder had to be known. However, later he felt that it was good that it had happened, because now he could convey the message. But if that had been the position, could we then find that at the moment that he committed the crime, he had an objective to influence people while he was keeping that act secret?
ADV MALAN: From what I understood of what the applicant had said, he wished to create fear amongst specifically Black members of the community. And that is what he had strived for. It is clear that he didn't intend any publication thereof.
ADV DE JAGER: ; Let us take it a step further then. If he had wished to influence the Black portion of the community and install fear in them, then at least it should have been made known that the act had been committed by a White person. But if you just see a corpse laying in the street, you don't know who the murderer had been, how do you influence the people?
ADV MALAN: Mr Chairman, the only argument that I can raise in this respect is that the media would have covered it that a person had been attacked and killed and I state what I said earlier, if one looks at it objectively, then it appears to be a stupid and unthought out act, but what was clearly in his mind at that stage, was that was his objective and that he had hoped that it would become known. There is nothing more that I can argue in this respect.
MS KHAMPEPE: Mr Malan, wouldn't you agree that the applicant's act of killing this particular person, had no discernable political objective? There is no evidence that in South Hills in particular, Black people were not being murdered at all by White people for whatever reason and therefor that this particular murder would have driven the message home that the killing was political?
Can we discern any political objective from his action?
ADV MALAN: Mr Chairman, apart from saying that the action was through and through of a political motivation, I mean if any other person had been involved, if a White person had walked passed it wouldn't have happened, and that had been the basis of what was going on in his mind, he had the courage to do so at that stage, then naturally it had no ripple effect on the political developments at that stage.
MS KHAMPEPE: ; I appreciate your difficulty, I think you can proceed.
ADV MALAN: That is as far as I will and can carry the argument.
JUDGE WILSON: Do you know how he pleaded in his trial?
ADV MALAN: Mr Chairman, he pleaded not guilty according to what he informed us, because he had argued that he had
been affected to such an extend by the alcohol, that his actions couldn't have been controlled, but that after a witness or two had testified, he changed his plea to guilty.
JUDGE WILSON: Thank you. Mr Black, have you got anything you wish to add?
MR BLACK: Mr Chairman, except to submit in my assessment of the evidence, that Mr Vosloo the applicant, has not satisfied the requirements of the Act for a number of reasons. One of which is he has, my submission is that the act appears to have been committed for extreme racist motives as opposed to political, achieving a political objective and importantly the act and the gravity of the act is out of all proportion to whatever objective he hoped to achieve.
The proportionality portion is not also complied with. Thank you.
JUDGE WILSON: We will take time to arrive to our decision. That completes the roll for today, does it?
ADV MALAN: That is so Mr Chairman.
