TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 3

Chapter 1

Subsection 24

Section C

267. Like its counterpart at Security Branch headquarters, Section C was the so-called Terrorist Investigation Unit. As an investigative rather than intelligence-gathering unit, its function was to investigate all matters relating to MK and other armed formations.

268. Nine Northern Transvaal Security Branch operatives based in Section C applied for amnesty for a number of abductions and killings committed between 1986 and 1987.

269. During 1986, an MK elimination unit (sometimes referred to as the ‘Icing Unit’) was active in the Northern Transvaal and Bophuthatswana area.

270. On 18 March 1986, Mr Patrick Martin Mahlangu, who was allegedly linked to the Icing Unit, was abducted from his Mamelodi home by Vlakplaas askaris purporting to be MK operatives. He was taken to a place near Northam in the Transvaal and was strangled en route by Colonel Marthinus Dawid Ras. His body was placed on top of approximately eight kilograms of TNT, which was detonated in an attempt to make it appear as if he had blown himself up while laying a landmine.

271. In September 1986, four members of the Icing Unit (Messrs Jabu Masina, Ting-Ting Masango, Joseph Makuru and Neo Potsane) were detained and later sentenced to death. At around the time of their arrest, a fifth member of the unit, Mr Justice Mbizana (aka Mandla Shezi) disappeared and none of the other four knew what had happened to him. Ten Northern Transvaal Security Branch operatives, including the Divisional Commander, Brigadier Cronje, the head of Section C, Major Sarel du Plessis Crafford, and his second-in-command, Captain Hendrik Prinsloo, applied for amnesty for his abduction [AC/2001/248]. Five of the ten applicants admitted in their applications that they had been responsible for killing Mr Mbizana.

272. On 14 October 1986, Captain Prinsloo (then head of Section C) instructed Constables Mathebula and Chenny William More of Section C to go to the house of Mr Moses Morudu, who was also suspected of being linked to the ‘Icing Unit’. Their orders were to pretend to be MK operatives and to persuade Mr Morudu to go into exile. Morudu agreed to go with them and was handed over to white members of Section C. He was taken to a farm near Hammanskraal where he was held for approximately one week, during which time he was interrogated by members of both Section C and the covert unit, including Lieutenant Hechter and Constables van Vu u ren and Mamasela.

273. Constables Mathebula, More and Matjeni applied for amnesty for this incident[AC/2000/010]. They testified that they had no idea of Morudu’s ultimate fate, except that he disappeared from the farm after a week. The Morudu family believed that he had gone into exile but realised that something must have happened to him when he failed to return with the other exiles after 1990.

274. Another killing linked to Section C of the Northern Transvaal Security Branch was that of Mr Ernest Ramango, alleged to be a Security Branch source (Sourc e 402) but suspected of being a double agent. Mr Ramango was picked up, interrogated and assaulted and given a poisonous drink. He was transported to Mamelodi in an unconscious state and placed on top of a landmine, which was then detonated. Captain JJH van Jaarsveld confirmed that Ramango had been one of his sources but had later reported to Major SdP Crafford [AM3761/96]. J P Roodt [AC5466/97] and D J Kruger [AM5233/97] applied for and were granted amnesty for the murder of Ramango and related offences [AC/1999/307]. Major Crafford [AM5468/97; AC/2000/110] also received amnesty for his role in this murder.

275. In June 1987, Jeffrey Sibaya and a man known as Mpho were killed by members of the covert unit and Section C⁸⁶. Although no specific mention is made of Mr Sibaya’s link to the ‘Icing Unit’, applicant Van Vuuren suggested that Mr Sibaya had been connected to the death of Sergeant Seuntjie Vuma, for which members of the ‘Icing Unit’ had been sentenced to death [AM2777/96].

276. Mr Petros Lubane was suspected of being a courier for Mr Siphiwe Nyanda (aka Gebuza), head of the MK’s Transvaal Machinery and allegedly involved in reconnoitering Wachthuis, the SAP headquarters. Mr Lubane was abducted by Constables More and ‘Bafana’ Mbatha on 17 September 1987 on the instructions of Captain Prinsloo. He was taken to a farm near Rust-de-Winter in the Transvaal, where he was held, interrogated and tortured for a number of days. After unsuccessful efforts to recruit him as an informer, Captain Prinsloo and Major Crafford decided that he should be killed. When authorisation was received from Divisional Commander Brigadier Cronje, Mr Lubane was given a poisoned beer. He fell unconscious and was placed in a hole in the ground before being shot in the head. His body was then blown up with explosives. The black constables were instructed to help their white colleagues comb the area for pieces of flesh. These remains were placed in the hole, which was now much larger because of the explosion. A second explosion ensured that all traces of Mr Lubane were obliterated.

277. Mr Lubane’s family has requested that the site where he was killed be identified so that they can look for fragments of his remains and perform the customary burial rites.