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people's warExplanation The testimony of five former security policemen to the Amnesty Committee in the past two weeks as finally opened up a window to the war psychosis that raged in the National Party and its security forces. But as we gained a profile of the people who killed in the name of apartheid the ANC seems to ... ... AK47, hand grenades, landmines, anti-personal mines, explosives, different explosives, TNT, plastic explosives? I’m mentioning now weapons of war, not police weapons. It was military training, that’s all I can say. If the Defence Force can say there was no secret, it was an open thing, no ... ... with. It was a very messy situation and we had to, as we saw it, apply messy legislation without any particular crusading zeal to fight a just war or anything like that. It was a very unfortunate situation we landed ourselves in. ... come you are looking for Glad here? Why don’t you go and look for him at his house? They said we are not here to play. I said, you are coming with war. // Mister Mokgatle came from the bedroom and he had a panga in his hands. It was sharpened on both sides. If I have to give the measurement it ... saying sorry and that everyone in South Africa is ... the conflict between the oppressed people and the oppressor. Now that thing now, I think that war is over. Thank you. // Please no killings, that’s not necessary. I know she died not for nothing, so please don’t kill ... one we need to learn a lot about in our country because the parallels are very dramatic. Some things do seem to make it worse, being in an unpopular war, an unpopular conflict is a problem. Our men had a problem worse even in some ways than Vietnam in that I’ve seen a number of people who talk ... Zambia they’d pass through Botswana but without the Botswana government’s knowledge. We had to do this, we had no other alternative, because the war was not waged in Zambia, it was not waged in Botswana but it was waged inside the country. And so we had to find ways of infiltrating these ... Not so, says Terreblanche. There will be no journey of reconciliation until all political prisoners are free. // I not only have a problem with my people but with all political prisoners. If the government really wants freedom and peace in South Africa then they should release those leaders who are ... ... who would serve in that Commission. Up until now Max I think the world at large would agree with me that only people who have been brought forward to appear before the Truth and Reconciliation are so-called ANC victims. None of other parties have been called forward. // But isn’t that ... It was not our purpose to kill as many people as possible. Our purpose was to prove that if these attacks were launched against the Boer people that we would retaliate, that we would hit back. There’s no point in just shooting people at random, then we could have done that in Richards Bay for ... Listen, let me tell you all the people, all they say, we must say sorry, we must say sorry. Are you sorry, are you sorry? And just to say I am sorry is an empty word. You know what I mean? Can you really be sorry? It’s the third time in my life that I meet you but sorry … I’m not the type of ... I was born in Potchefstroom. I can’t say the township, or the Indian township ... at that time it was just one area. And in a sense yes my early years takes place in that area because my grandfather, when he came from India, I imagine around 1920, 1921, many people actually then started moving ... We went to the disco at about eight o’clock that night and it was Valentine’s night, it was supposed to be a special night for couples or married people. ... we are going to have to say that people have a sense of responsibility for what happened. Because if we don’t say that, then I think as we go forward there are going to be many who say, well I can do these things because comrade x or comrade y did it and got away with it. And in finalising ... This cocktail of God and fatherland was backed up at home with medal parades and military manoeuvres. The news was clinical and heroic. To keep the machine rolling and white South Africa’s morale up, the blood and guts, the dying and killing was not shown. Those who came back from the killing ... You were told by your commander that the reason why you had to infiltrate this group is because they were heavily trained and they were dangerous and they were destabilizing the area in and around in Cape Town. // That’s correct sir. I was instructed to train these people and when I reported that ... ... say that whilst most of the world would oppose the actions of the previous government with regard to the liberation movement. We’ve got to put forward the view that many who supported that government did so believing earnestly and genuinely that they were actually opposing a communist ... As the TRC left Port Shepstone this week the question of a third force remained. Selvan Chetty of the Network of Independent Monitors has spent years investigating claims that a hidden hand has intervened to pit one side against the other. // I think if you really want to look at the hidden hand ... Although the comrades were no match for the gang, retaliation was on the cards. // I think the community realised that this was only a few people. At least if we faced the police then it’s better than facing many people who are coming from different sides. They decided this people should go, and ... For three months the little people, the ordinary citizens, have been showing their pain in public. It seemed for a while as if the Truth Commission was little more than group therapy for victims. It is becoming a new ball game now. Cynicism and mockery are making way for a realisation that the ... |