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Operation Zero ZeroExplanation On Monday the widows of the Cradock Four came back to Centenary Hall in Port Elizabeth at the start of second week of testimony from their husband’s killers. Last week they heard from Sakkie van Zyl who was the captain in charge of the operation on that fateful June night in 1985. ... to testify about the controversial shootout. Three of the policemen appeared before the Commission last year, including the man who planned the operation, retired Col Adolf Janse Odendaal. The remaining six policemen gave their versions at a two-day sitting this week. It would be the fourth ... Towards the end of 1988 Mitchell and Terreblanche attended a meeting with Inkatha leaders including David Ntombela where it was decided to launch an operation that would clear and hold the Trust Feed area for Inkatha. ... the reconciliation at the end. So all of that kind of financial bookkeeping. Then there was logistical work. There would every month be a resupply operation, supplying arms and various other things to RENAMO. It would happen monthly by drop, actually drop into Mozambique. I was responsible for ... ... Silverton bank siege. This is the only instance in which cadres of Umkhonto we Sizwe took hostages. There were three cadres who were going on some operation. They realised that they had been spotted by the police, and ran into a bank. They got into the bank and they tried to move all the ... the story. They were killed by Lotz and others in a cover up that has become known as the Motherwell bomb. Perhaps the most serious casualty of this operation was the very law and order that these policemen claimed they were so desperate to ... ... years? And above all, they must be able to tell the Truth Commission whether politicians like Adriaan Vlok and PW Botha knew of and ordered certain operations. General Engelbrecht was known as the Vlakplaas sweeper. He was the policeman who had to cover up police death squad operations ... Gentlemen what do you say to the proposition that your statement that you issued on the 16th of February 1989 is part of a STRATCOM operation? // All I can say, for me, that’s a ridiculous proposition. I’ve made the point here that arising out of the events in Soweto I was part of the drafting ... ... to attend any complaints in this area, no motor vehicle is allowed to go into this area and I asked them what’s going on. They said it’s an ... While operation ‘Great Storm’ was in process on the Free State and Eastern Cape platteland, a white policeman shot and killed a black man arrested for killing an aged couple on a farm outside Kroonstad. The policeman asked for amnesty in Bloemfontein this week because he says he killed in ... operatives when they supplied faulty hand grenades to COSAS members in the course of 1985. At least eight persons were killed and seven maimed. This operation was authorised and approved by the former Commissioner of Police and the Minister. // Whoever authorized that was guilty of a very gruesome ... ... between 5 and 10 000 lives and at least one of the people who is in Chikurubi now as a convicted prisoner was very directly involved in the secret operation that orchestrated that conflict between ZAPU and ZANU and created such suffering in our country in the early 1980s. So many many thousands ... I asked for Joe Mamasela to come down to assist in the operation because he was the main operator I would say, with Almond Nofemela of course, but a sober guy. A non-smoker, a non-drinker, had the killer instinct, super fit. ... from the outbuilding one by one for interrogation and this is where the story starts to diverge. Joe Mamasela, an askari who was involved in this operation, sings a completely different song to all the other amnesty applicants. He says the men were removed and over the next two days were ... Joe Mamasela, self-confessed political serial killer was one of the Vlakplaas askaris who participated in this operation. // It was brutal; it was what in Afrikaans people call ‘broekskeur.’ It was terrible. // Were they tortured? // They were tortured severely. They were savaged; they were ... ... man, Johan du Preez was off duty. But he was quick to comply with the request. As soon as he arrived with his machine the torture plan swung into operation. Du Preez stayed on to help and Col At van Niekerk stood by ... Beyond the contradictory accounts and the spine chilling facts, both Mbelo and Bellingan gave an insight into the emotional effects and anger they feel now about the operation then. ... targeted by the Defence Force, I cannot say how their thoughts went, she could have been an innocent bystander. I cannot say. If I had executed the operation I would also have killed her. // I understood that the two were together and that both were shot. I cannot explain why she was shot but ... ... piece of bone that we know is existing in any part of the length and breadth of this country. But our mandated period, certainly our period of operation as the TRC, may expire before we have done all the work that needs to be done. As I speak, I’ve been told that there are no less than ... In this quest to reclaim the land the amnesty applicants formed an APLA unit in Botshabelo and executed their first and last operation at Wesselsdal farm. // When we arrived there I knocked at the door together with my comrades and a white lady came, that is the wife of Mr. Smith. We asked her ... |
