TRC Final Report

Volume 2

Chapter 4

Subsection 5

23 On 14 June 1986, three people were killed and about sixty-nine injured in a car bomb explosion at Magoo’s Bar on the Durban beachfront. The attack was carried out by an MK cell consisting of Mr Robert McBride, Ms Greta Apelgren (now known as Zahrah Narkedien) and Mr Matthew le Cordier. The latter turned state witness at the trial. Apelgren was acquitted and McBride was convicted and sentenced to death three times. McBride was released during the negotiations between political parties in the early 1990s.

24 The Commission received two submissions in respect of people who had been killed in the Magoo’s Bar bombing and eleven in respect of the injured. Ms Helen Kearney, a barmaid at the hotel, was one of those injured in the attack and testified at the hearings.

25 Those who died were Ms Marchelle Cheryl Gerrard (Oosthuizen) [KZN/GW/001/DN] and Ms Angelique Pattenden [KZN/NKS/010/DN]. The injured were Mr Michael Todd [KZN/NKS/001/DN], Mr David Flutcher [KZN/NKS/002/DN], Mr Gavin Maxwell [KZN/NKS/003/DN), Mr T Vulonel [KZN/NKS/004/DN], Mr Kishorelal Dulcharan [KZN/NKS/006/DN], Ms Helen Kearney [KZN/NKS/007/DN], Ms Larreine de la Rosa [KZN/NKS/008/DN], Mr Craig Shillow [KZN/NKS/011/DN], Mr Andrew Vimnecembe [KZN/NKS/012/DN], Mr Roger Shillow [KZN/NKS/013/DN], and Mr Jonathan Jeffers [KZN/NKS/019/DN].

26 In its first submission to the Commission, the ANC noted that this bombing was “in line with the ANC’s attempts to take the struggle out of the black ghettos and into the white areas. The target of the attack was the ‘Why Not’ Bar, near the Magoo’s Bar because it was [according to surveillance carried out by MK operatives] frequented by off-duty members of the Security Forces.”

27 On 21 April 1997, the Commission subpoenaed Robert McBride and Zahrah Narkedien to testify in Section 29 hearings in Durban. Narkedien told the Commission she had been tortured by the security police after her arrest in connection with bombing. She testified that, before the explosion, they had been to Botswana to receive instructions from MK command structures. In his own defence, Robert McBride, testified as follows:

Magoo’s is a new invention by the Mercury newspaper. Everybody knew I parked directly opposite the ‘Why Not’ Bar. Magoo’s was never an intended target. And everybody has pretended I acted on my own like a madman … We were to kill enemy personnel. That’s it.

28 In the course of questioning at the hearing, it became clear that McBride’s reconnaissance of the Bar to ascertain whether it was frequented by ‘enemy’ personnel was of a highly amateurish nature.

29 A bomb exploded on 20 May 1987 at the Johannesburg magistrate’s court, a minor explosion that was followed by a second more powerful charge minutes later. Mr André Duvenhage, a police officer at John Vorster Square at the time, was one of the personnel who attended to the first explosion not knowing that it was a decoy. The second charge killed him. According to the ANC, three police officers were killed and four police officers and six civilians injured in the explosion. Other reports claimed there were four deaths and sixteen injuries. The Commission received submissions testifying to the deaths of Mr Kobus Wilkens [JB06472/03NW] and Mr André Duvenhage [JB02168/03WR] and the injury of Mr Khutswane [JB02168/03WR].

30 The ANC lists the incident as an MK operation. The Commission received amnesty applications from Mr William Mabele [AM5313/97] and Mr Joseph Koetle [AM7500/97].

31 There were a number of other planned bombings with civilian casualties. In November 1986, two limpet mines exploded at the Newcastle magistrates’ court, injuring twenty-four people. Mr Johannes Zwelibanzi Simelane [KZN/KM/ 643/NC] and Mr Vusumuzi Jacob Hezekiah Nene [KZN/KM/642/NC] testified to the injuries they received in the incident.

32 In July 1987, a bomb exploded at the Wits Command, killing one person and injuring sixty-eight military personnel and civilians. Ms Johanna Aleta Klaasen [EC2651/97] submitted a statement in respect of injuries sustained in the explosion. Mr Heinrich Johannes Grosskopf [AM5917/97], Mr Aboobaker Ismail [AM7109/97], Mr Joseph Mnisi [AM4364/97] and Mr Colin Mike de Souza applied for amnesty for their roles.

33 In June 1988, a bomb exploded outside Standard Bank in Roodepoort, killing four and injuring eighteen civilians. Statements were received in respect of the injury of Ms Esther Nontombi Caicai [JB1074/01GTSOW] and the death of Mr Frans Monawa Mothoa [JB01950/02NPPTB].

34 In another incident on 17 March 1988, a car bomb exploded at the Krugersdrop magistrate’s court adjacent to the local police station, killing two SADF personnel and a civilian. Twenty other people were injured. Mr Hein Grosskopf was tried and convicted for the incident. Mr Mohammed Ichbahl (Iqbal) Shaik [AM7151/97] who, together with Mr Aboobaker Ismail, applied for amnesty for the incident, testified at his amnesty hearing that he set up two bombs, the first to serve as a decoy and the second directed at security force personnel but, “unfortunately the decoy failed to explode, due to some malfunction”.

35 Two people were killed and several others injured when a bomb exploded on 18 April 1986 at the Wild Coast Casino at Bizana in the Eastern Cape. Amnesty applicant Mr Phumzile Mayaphi [AM5247/97] claims the act was in response to the SADF’s raid into Lesotho on 20 December 1985 in which nine people were killed. Mayaphi was charged and found guilty of murder and sabotage and sentenced to death on 12 May 1989.

36 On 2 July 1988, a car bomb exploded near the gate of Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. Two people were killed and thirty-seven injured. Ms Magriet Elizabeth Erasmus [JB06084/99OVE] made a statement in respect of the killing of her husband, Mr Linus Mare, and a colleague, Mr Clive Clucas. Mr Roger Christian Hagerty [EC1442/97ELN] sustained injuries in the explosion. Amnesty applicants for this incident were Mr Harold Matshididi [AM8007/97] and Mr Billy Agie Shoke [AM8014/97].

37 The ANC conceded that unnecessary civilian deaths arose from the misinterpretation of policy by cadres and activists on the ground. They said that state censorship through the banning of ANC literature and the disruption of broadcasts from Radio Freedom, as well as a deliberate distortion of ANC policies, impeded communication between rank and file members and the ANC leadership. The ANC nevertheless refuted the possibility of “different perceptions on the definition of legitimate targets among ANC leaders”.

IN THE COURSE OF THE ARMED STRUGGLE, THE ANC THROUGH ITS ARMED FORMATION, MK, PLANNED AND UNDERTOOK MILITARY OPERATIONS WHERE, THOUGH THE INTENDED TARGET WAS IDENTIFIED AS A ‘MILITARY’ OR ‘SECURITY FORCE’ ONE, MISTAKES WERE MADE FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, INCLUDING POOR INTELLIGENCE AND RECONNAISSANCE. THE CONSEQUENCE IN THESE CASES, SUCH AS THE MAGOO’S BAR AND THE DURBAN ESPLANADE BOMBINGS, WERE GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THAT THEY RESULTED IN INJURIES TO AND THE DEATHS OF CIVILIANS. THE COMMISSION FINDS THE ANC RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PERPETRATION OF GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THESE INSTANCES.