SOUTH AFRICA: P.W. BOTHA ACCUSED OF 1987 TRADE UNION OFFICE BOMBING

(17 Sep 1996) English/Nat
A former South African police commander convicted of apartheid era murders has accused former President P.W. Botha of ordering the 1987 bombing of trade union offices in Johannesburg.
Eugene de Kock - dubbed 'Prime Evil' by his colleagues - also told a Pretoria judge he'd provided weapons for the Inkatha Freedom Party, the A-N-C's rivals.
His testimony contradicts earlier statements by the former ruling National Party, which claimed such crimes were not officially sanctioned.
The highest ranking officer convicted of apartheid crimes was found guilty last month of 89 charges - including six murders - committed in the 1980s and 90s.
As South Africa struggles to come to terms with its violent past, attention is now focused on this courtroom in Pretoria.
Here a former police commander is testifying about his role during the country's apartheid era.
Eugene de Kock told the court that top officials - including former President P.W. Botha - knew about and ordered attacks on black activists.
The 48-year-old former police - dubbed "Prime Evil" by his colleagues - is the highest- ranking officer convicted so far of crimes committed during the apartheid era.
De Kock began his testimony Monday - the first time he's taken the witness stand throughout his 18 month trial.
Last month, De Kock was convicted on 89 charges, including six murders, committed in Lesotho and Swaziland - two independent countries within South Africa.
By admitting his role in various raids and killings of anti-apartheid activists, de Kock is looking to obtain an amnesty from South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The Commission has the power to grant amnesties to those who confess of crimes committed during the apartheid regime as long as they can prove their actions were politically motivated.
Amnesty is the price South Africa seems prepared to pay to hear the truth about the violence of the apartheid era.
But some South Africans believe the amnesty for truth policy is too lenient.
SOUNDBITE: (VOX POP)
"I mean, they must feel it as we've been feeling what he has done to our black people - not only black people, to each and everybody."
SUPER CAPTION: William Zwane, South African
SOUNDBITE: (VOX POP)
"It's easy for us to say he was wrong - all the stuff he did - but at that stage a few years ago South Africa was different and they might have thought it was right."
SUPER CAPTION: Christine Bredenkamp, South African
One of those in court was the mother of black lawyer Bheki Mlangeni, whom de Kock was convicted of having murdered.
The former police commander mailed a bomb in a Walkman addressed to former colleague Dirk Coetzee, who forwarded it to the lawyer.
The director of the Institute for Defence Policy said it was inconceivable the head of state would not have sanctioned attacks on neighbouring countries such as Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana.
SOUNDBITE:
"There is no knowledge, according to my research at any stage, that cross border operations were ever conducted other than on the express authority of the State President and the minister concerned."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Jakkie Cilliers, Director, Institute for Defence Policy
On Tuesday, de Kock told the court he'd learnt that orders to blow up the Johannesburg headquarters of the country's largest organisation of trade unions were authorised by the then President P. W. Botha.
The building was bombed in May 1987.
At the time, the security minister blamed the African National Congress for the attack and arrested activist Shirley Gunn.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...