Vlock turns on FW

http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=521295

Dominic Mahlangu and Moipone Malefane

Published:Jul 22, 2007

Apartheid police minister implicates his old boss after prosecutors bring
charges against him.

Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok and several of his security chiefs
have implicated former President FW de Klerk and "other top officials" in
their submissions to the National Prosecuting Authority.
The Sunday Times can reveal that Vlok and former Police Commissioner Johann
van der Merwe — who were both charged this week with the attempted murder of
the Rev Frank Chikane, Director-General in the office of President Thabo
Mbeki — are angry that they are the only ones taking the blame for
atrocities committed during apartheid.

Sunday Times understands that both Vlok and Van der Merwe have made
submissions pointing fingers at De Klerk and his Cabinet, who allegedly
approved their activities.

Jan Wagener, attorney for Vlok, Van der Merwe and three police officers,
refused to disclose the contents of his clients' submissions, saying the
matter was sub judice.

Dave Steward, speaking on behalf of De Klerk, said they have been in contact
with Vlok's lawyers and they believe that there is nothing that points a
finger at De Klerk.

"There is no information that links De Klerk. Nothing," said Steward.

However the Sunday Times has been told that plea-bargaining negotiations
between lawyers of the two men and the NPA are at an advanced stage.

The offer on the table involves 10-year suspended sentences for Vlok and Van
der Merwe on condition they help the NPA in other matters involving
apartheid crimes.

According to an insider close to the talks, submissions made by Vlok and Van
der Merwe to the NPA are "detailed and damning".

Those close to the process say "big heads will roll and senior National
Party [NP] Cabinet ministers will have to come out and account for their
roles".

Many ministers snubbed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in
1996.

De Klerk, however, told the commission that his party was not prepared to
accept responsibility for the criminal actions of a handful of operatives in
the security forces of which the party was not aware and which it would
never have condoned. The former apartheid security officials who have
approached the NPA include Eugene de Kock, a mastermind of apartheid hit
squads against opponents of NP rule.

The willingness by former security agents to co-operate with the NPA comes
amid speculation that the prosecution of Vlok will open the door for the NPA
to go after other former Cabinet ministers.

De Kock, who is serving a 212- year sentence in Pretoria's C-Max prison for
apartheid crimes, contacted the NPA last week requesting an urgent meeting.
The meeting is being facilitated by a senior politician whose name is known
to the Sunday Times.

Panyaza Lesufi, the NPA's spokesman, confirmed De Kock had made contact but
could not say what he might reveal.

Lesufi also confirmed that several former security agents and individuals
who served the NP regime had contacted the NPA with a view to revealing more
details of crimes committed in the past. He could not, however, disclose any
details.

"I can confirm that we have received a number of calls from people who want
to come forward with information. While we cannot ascertain what they want
to reveal, we will treat each case on its merits," he said.

Vlok and Van der Merwe are being charged with the attempted murder of
Chikane when he was general secretary of the South African Council of
Churches by lacing his clothes with poison.

Following the arrests, De Klerk released a warning that such prosecutions
were not even-handed, that they were not in keeping with the spirit of the
democracy negotiations and that they would upset the process of
reconciliation.

In another statement released yesterday in response to media speculation
about his fate, De Klerk said through his spokesman Steward that it was
"exasperating that every time there was any development relating to such
prosecutions the same old allegations were made trying to implicate Mr De
Klerk. Each time we had to repeat the same refutations."

He added that the Truth Commission, which had access to all State Security
Council documents, had failed to find anything implicating De Klerk.

Department of Justice officials said Vlok and other members of the apartheid
security apparatus were unhappy that they were the only ones taking the fall
for apartheid atrocities.

The Truth Commission handed over more than 800 cases for further
investigation and possible prosecution when it ended its hearings in 2004.

The NPA then established a special unit to investigate those cases and begin
the process of prosecution.

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