In accordance with the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, no. 34 of 1995, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was constituted. The TRC was required to consider and decide on amnesty applications.

The Commission had the power to grant amnesty if it was satisfied that the submitted application had complied with formal requirements stipulated in the Act. Furthermore, it had to be convinced that the incidents being addressed indeed were constituted as political acts.

The Commission also had to be convinced that the applicants had made full disclosures of all the facts related to the relevant incidents. The Act also exempted successful amnesty applicants from criminal and civil prosecutions.

Julian Knight and Rudolph Jansen were the legal representatives of several former security force members who had been part of the elite South African security police unit, known as C1 or Vlakplaas. From 1981 until the early 1990s, the main mission of this unit was to eliminate and harass apartheid government opposition. The unit was made up of several white officials and askaris, who were former ANC operatives who had switched sides. During this period, these security forces were responsible for gross human rights violations.

From 1980 to 1989, Captain Dirk Johannes Coetzee commanded this unit. During this period, Coetzee and his co-perpetrators were involved with killing Ruth First, Gonisizwe Kondile, Marius Schoon's wife and daughter, Durban lawyer - Griffiths Mxenge, Cradock Four, PEBCO 3 and Piet Retief murders.

The unit was also responsible for bombing, arson, theft and damage to property of activists and church organisations befriending the apartheid government opponents such as incidents at COSATU House, Khotso House, Khanya House, cinemas and shopping centres to discourage the public from watching the Cry Freedom film. Apartheid spy, Major Craig Williamson played an instrumental role in bombing ANC offices in Lusaka and London, the attempted murder of Joe Slovo, and the murder of Ruth First and Schoon family.

Towards the end of 1989, Almond Nofomela, a former Vlakplaas policeman, on death row for the murder of a farmer, exposed the activities of Vlakplaas under Coetzee. Dirk Coetzee fled to Mauritius, United Kingdom and Zambia under the protection of the ANC to whom he revealed the Vlakplaas operations. Nofomela and Coetzee's revelations resulted in the President FW de Klerk appointing the Harms Commission to investigate alleged Vlakplaas murders, hit squads and activities of the CCB. Security force members were encouraged to lie at the Harms Commission thereby discrediting Coetzee and Nofomela.

As a result of Dirk Coetzee's departure from Vlakplaas, Colonel Eugene Alexander de Kock became the new commander until 1994. De Kock and his co-perpetrators, including Marthinus Ras and Gideon Nieuwoudt, continued with the tasks previously entrusted to Dirk Coetzee. During his command, further incidents of abductions, arms caches, bombings and arson, cover-ups, body mutilations, disinformation and discrediting actions, fraud and theft, illegal weapons, intimidations, killings, torture and assaults occurred in defence of the interests of the apartheid regime. Included in these events was the killing of the Motherwell Four, askaris planning to inform the ANC of activities concerning the Cradock Four; parcel bomb sent to Zambia with the intention of killing Dirk Coetzee; Duli Coup and Operation Katzen which ended with the deaths of Onward Guzane and Chales Sebe, framed as conspirators of an attempted Transkei coup and assassination of Bantu Holomisa.

In October 1996, Eugene Alexander de Kock, found guilty of 89 charges and sentenced to 212 years of imprisonment, was one of the first to apply for amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

His application, in turn, encouraged many of his co-perpetrators to submit individual amnesty applications.

This collection contains amnesty applications, hearings, evidence and related materials concerning the applications of individuals such as Marthinus Ras, Dirk Johannes Coetzee and Eugene de Kock as well as other individuals involved in the incidents. Included is newspaper cuttings and information on amnesty decisions.

References:

M. Du Preez: Pale Native. Memories of a Renegade Reporter. 2003. Cape Town: Zebra Press

Truth and Reconciliation Report. The Intersection between Work of the Human Rights Violations Committee and the Amnesty Committee. The Former South African Government and Its Security Forces. Vol. 6. Sections 1 - 4.