Amnesty Hearings — Cape Town — 2000-03-16

ABRAM VAN ZYL: Thank you Chairperson.  I shall continue.
"I, Abram van Zyl, declare hereby under oath
		I live in Florida and own my own business in Sandton.  I have received a summons, signed by Col Eager, during my release from detention and according to Section 29 of the Act of Internal Security.  It is following on that summons that I am appearing here now and that I make this statement.
		I confirm that no promises have been made by anyone to me and in particular, I confirm that I will not be used as a State witness or that any other guarantee has been given to me.  
		I confirm that no promises have been made by my legal representatives to me in any regard.  After I initially considered using the privilege of self-incrimination, I decided to speak openly with regard to the subject of this investigation before this Committee in so far as it is within my knowledge.  
		On the 31st of December 1960 I was born in Tulbagh and completed my schooling at the high school of Tulbagh in 1978 and in November 1978 I joined the South African Police Force and delivered service as follows to the South African Police:
	Constable, Bramley Police Station 1979 to approximately 1981.  Constable at Jeppe Crime Unit for approximately 2 years and thereafter attached to Diepkloof Unrest Unit for a month after the Crime Unit had been disbanded.  Sergeant and Warrant Officer from 1983 and 1984 at Detective Branch for Criminal Matters at John Vorster Square.  Warrant Officer 1985, Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit and Lieutenant in 1987.
		In 1988 I married and have a two month old son.  During May 1988 I went from the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit where I was still a Lieutenant and I was transferred to Pietermaritzburg Murder and Robbery Unit where I was Second in Command of that branch, but before my transferral, Staal Burger, previously a Colonel in the South African Police and previously Chief of the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit, he approached me and told me that he himself, Chappie Maree and Kalla Botha would be working for Matthysen Bus Transport Business.  I was also informed by Burger that Matthysen was only a front and that they would work for the South African Defence Force at the division Special Forces for the South African Defence Force, that they would practically retain their ranks and that they would be paid attractive salaries.  Burger said that I should have an interview with Mr Joe Verster who was the Chief of Special Forces.  He said that himself, Maree and Botha would go along in a few days to speak to Joe Verster.  I agreed.  
		It was during May 1988 that I held my interview with Joe Verster, whom I heard was a Colonel in South African Defence Force, as well as the Managing Director of the CCB, the Civil Co-operation Bureau, in the Ponti Building in Johannesburg.  There I met Joe Verster and one Christo Britz.  
		Verster spoke to me alone in a room and told me that he was part of the South African Defence Force and that there was a unit, the CCB, within Special Forces.  He indicated that these were citizens who operated along with the army and although their objectives were not spelled out at this stage in detail to me, I was told that this was in order to disrupt the enemies of South Africa.  He informed me that South African Defence Force would establish an internal region, namely Region 6, in order to disrupt the enemies of the Republic of South Africa.  
		The following general motivation was put forward by Verster of which certain facts were known personally to me.  During the last few years of the 1980's the emphasis in South Africa moved from crime related matters to security related matters.  I was granted the opportunity to work with an elite unit of the Defence Force and this I regarded as a great honour.  I was aware of the fact that the enemy of the Republic of South Africa at this stage had launched a serious onslaught on the country in order to usurp the Government.  I was convinced, or of the conviction after my discussion with Verster that the Security Forces of the Republic were in a secret war situation with the enemy.  It was a situation which, because of survival, had joggled my sympathy and interest.  It was clear to me that the conventional manner in which the warfare had been done out of the country, was not sufficient and I would also like to mention that internal attacks by means of bomb explosions and others by the ANC and others had led to great loss of life and damage in the Republic of South Africa.  
		There was also the background of the internal onslaught from 1984 to 1986, within which attempts were made by the enemy in the Republic in order to render the Republic ungovernable by the internal actions.  I, on a form, provided my proper name where I applied for the job and I was informed that I would go through security clearance and then that the army would get back to me afterwards.  I was also informed that my salary would be more than I would receive at the Police, but the exact salary would later be supplied to me.  I completed the form and handed it to Verster.
Later I was informed that I was appointed from the beginning of May 1988 and that I would receive a salary of approximately R3 500 per month.  There was a written salary proposal made to me by Verster.  I was informed that I would get a motor vehicle allowance whereby a vehicle could be bought worth R30 000, which was supplied by Matthysen Bus Transport to me.  I bought a BMW 318i.  I have to mention that the money was supplied by the South African Defence Force via  Matthysen Bus transport.  		I also understood that a petrol allowance of 18 cents per kilometre would be paid and that my further expenditure during the course of my service would be paid by the South African Defence Force as part of my work for the CCB.
		I was also informed that there was a pension contribution of approximately R800 per month and in May or June 1988, I received one year's contributions.  These contributions bought a policy which would see to my pension.  
		I would also like to mentioned that later I received a telephone allowance on a monthly basis from the South African Defence Force as well as my medical costs which would be paid by the South African Defence Force, therefore I was able to acquire a home loan via and with the assistance of the Army.	
From approximately 1988 I worked for Matthysen Bus Transport, which was a front for the CCB.  During the six months from May up to the end of 1988, there were meetings at Ponti Building with Verster and Britz.  During this period of time, I met General Joubert of the South African Defence Force on two occasions in this Ponti Building.  He was introduced to me by Verster and I understood that Gen Joubert was the Chairperson of the Unit which was known as the CCB.  I was informed by Gen Joubert that he was a member of the Generals staff of the army and he was the Chairperson of the CCB.  		We were also informed that there was a code of conduct between the army and the South African Police where a member comes from the one institution to the other institution and there would be some time upon which he would not actively become involved in incidents, in order to avoid any problems, so therefore we would not be active for the first six months.  During January 1989, we started functioning actively for the CCB, although certain smaller tasks were already performed.
		During the months when I was inactive, I still received a salary on a monthly basis.  I later understood that twice a year, a production bonus would be available for qualifying members.  It was paid out in May and November.  I qualified for the May bonus in 1989 and received approximately R3 000.  
		Tax was deducted from my salary by Matthysen Transport, approximately R406-00.  The money was in an envelope and handed over in cash and usually the R406-00 tax was in another envelope and therefore from May 1988 I was a full-time member of the South African Defence Force, attached to the Civil Co-operation Bureau Region 6, part of the Special Forces of the South African Defence and in the service of the State and from that date, I received perks as I have mentioned.
		Early in 1989, I underwent a course with Burger, Maree and Botha at the South African Defence Force farm outside Pretoria.  The course lasted five days.  There were several persons who gave us lessons during this course including Jaco Verster and a person by the name of Heine.  During the course we were informed with regard to this unit and what we would do.  We were informed that this unit and specifically our region were an Intelligence Unit, but that certain actions would be launched from information that was gathered, in order to disrupt the enemies of the Government maximally or entirely.  Although from time to time we gathered information, it was told to us that our most important task would be the disruption of the enemy within the country, the enemies of South Africa within the country, as well as outside.  We were informed as such about the structure of the CCB.
		There was an outer circle and an inner circle.  The inner circle were the members of the CCB, meaning that we worked for the Defence Force on a full time basis and we were aware that we were working for the Defence Force on a full-time basis.  These were the so-called aware members and the outer circle, they were persons who were used by us who were not full-time members of the Defence Force, who also did not know that they were working for the Army or for the CCB and we referred to them as outsiders.  These were the so-called unaware members.
		The immediate unit within which we worked, was a cell and the inner circle comprised a number of members as indicated above, as well as a Co-ordinator, who was the liaison between the cell and the Managing Director of the CCB.  He chiefly dealt with the financing, the instructions, the approval of projects and so forth.  The Regional Manager was the Chief of the region and had direct contact with the Managing Director and the Chairperson.  The Regional Manager was the Chief, in the immediate sense of the word, of that region and we received our instructions from him or from the Managing Director himself.  We had to comply with his instructions.  The Managing Director was in command of all the regions in general and was indeed in command of the CCB.  The Chairperson was a member of South African Defence Force, Generals staff and the overall commander of the CCB.
		We were also informed that our work would entail the gathering of intelligence, the submission of reports and the execution of instructions in the form of approved projects.  The CCB was the priority class to enemies and the enemies were identified as South African Communistic Party, the ANC and the other banned organisations, their members both on left and right.  
		We were informed that the Regional Manager would draw up a report which would be handed to the co-ordinator and then the co-ordinator would hand it over to the Managing Director and he would deal with it further.  If a project was appointed, from the information and report we would get to do a pre-study and then it would be submitted for approval.  When the approval is obtained from the Managing Director and the Chairperson approved the project, later the Managing Director would give feedback with regard to the project.  
		We were also informed that the disruption of the enemy could, for example, entail ..."
...(intervention)