Special Report Transcript Episode 76, Section 2, Time 44:50

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 of this statement. We drafted this statement right until about three AM of the 16th of February. There was no member from STRATCOM in that situation, unless you’re telling me that perhaps somewhere there were imaginations of STRATCOM of which we had no power over. // What was it about Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela and her football club that made it so difficult for very important prominent people in positions people held from acting decisively before this whole series of events, which you alleged took place, actually occurred? // We didn’t want the name of our movement, and I’m not talking about the UDF now I’m talking about the ANC, because that was the movement that we were fighting to unban, we didn’t want it to be tarnished. So, yes it was extraordinary difficult, point one. And point two, power. When you deal with people who are powerful in any society, whoever you are, you deal with them a bit more carefully than with somebody you see in a squatter camp. What’s so difficult to understand about that? I think we must put the cards on the table. Mrs. Mandela is a powerful person, a powerful figure. So, before you mess with a powerful person you must be clear of your facts and that was the situation.

Notes: Hanif Vally (TRC Evidence Leader); Murphy Morobe; Hanif Vally; Azhar Cachalia