self-protection units (SPUs)

Geneva protocol? // Landmines were used in areas that were extensively patrolled by the South African Defence Force and also by the Area Protection Units known by the term ‘commandoes.’ Most of those operations, landmine operations, were in the border areas, the areas that were patrolled ...

unit for the protection of VIP’s in KwaZulu was approved by the State Security Council. Any suggestions therefore that the training of the KwaZulu units had anything to do with the establishment of a third force, which was at that stage still under consideration, constitutes a blatant disregard ...

... on the violation of education rights; public feedback on the TRC; and Archbishop Tutu?s appeal to soldiers, policemen, guerrillas and self defence units to apply for amnesty in the next six days. ...

... that the NP leadership was aware of and never disciplined him for authorizing illegal actions. The SADF was less forthcoming especially on covert units like the CCB and DCC. Former Commander of Special Forces did however give evidence on Special Forces deployed inside the country to support ...

Self Defence Units (SDUs)

... through the mud from General to Private. We are here to defend the honour of the Defence Force. And we are also here to defend the honour of our units, because I served in bloody good units and there are a lot of them today. Welcome to the paratroopers, 32 Battalion guys and the rekkies, ...

... intelligence division, Maj-Genl Krappies Engelbrecht. They and the other police officers named in the report were placed on immediate leave. Police units implicated were the old Vlakplaas units C10, the East Rand Murder and Robbery Squad and the Durban Security Branch as well as the KwaZulu ...

During the eighties townships under siege hit back in more ways than one. Underground defence units were formed. The armed struggle was taking route inside the country. In 1990 State President FW de Klerk unbanned the liberation movements and released their leaders. But instead of peace and ...

Successive states of emergency created an environment where secret units of the security forces flourished. Units like the shady Civil Cooperation Bureau and the police death squads at Vlakplaas were formed.

Not all self defence unit action was this benign. In the townships around Johannesburg self defence units were involved in day to day combat with amongst others Inkatha members and the internal stability unit. Many people lost their lives in the ever spiralling violence and for many the self ...

During the 1980s three security force units attacked and assassinated anti-apartheid activists in neighbouring states. The security police, the Defence Force Civil Cooperation Bureau, CCB, and Military Intelligence. The CCB’s Zimbabwean cell was one of the most active and carried out operations ...

‘Armed and Dangerous: Self Defence Units, Report by Anneliese Burgess’ // By late 1990, the ANC was increasingly alarmed at the inability to protect their people from the wave of violence that was engulfing many townships.

Swaziland was perhaps the country that suffered most in the 1980s when Vlakplaas and other security police units raided it year after year.

In response to this continuing violence self defence units were set up with the aim of protecting township residents. The SDUs, as they came to be known, were trained by Umkhonto we Sizwe soldiers. One such SDU in the Moleleki section of Kathlehong had already been operating since 1992. The unit ...

... government’s violent strategy of torture and murder against pro-democracy activists. This impression is mistaken. There were other police units who were far more prolific killers. Three of the five security policemen appearing before the Truth Commission’s Amnesty Committee at the ...

nobody told nobody. In other words the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing. There was 24 hours surveillance on him by surveillance units of BOSS in Durban. // 24 hour? // Yes. // For years? // For years. // And BOSS’ surveillance unit itself was doing surveillance and sometimes ...

But the National Party when questioned about the widespread killing and torture of opponents and the use of covert units like that at Vlakplaas and the Civil Cooperation Bureau, was not able to explain who took the decisions and who should take final responsibility.

... for amnesty. There’s no question of it, they are coming. But we are proactive in the regions themselves, the regional heads of investigation units in the regions have been instructed to compile a consolidated list and that list is going to be consolidated at the national office for ...

... subpoenaed Mangosuthu Buthelezi or any of his Lieutenants to explain their role. One of the most notable successes of the TRC’s Investigation Units has been the exhumation unit which has helped many families dig quite literally for the dark secrets of the past. Over the last two years of ...

... to Zimbabwe and not explode till I opened it. There was a great deal of intelligence and sophistication, the sophistication that only lay within units such as the CCB. ...