Amnesty Hearings — Cape Town — 1997-11-17

MR B WILLIAMS: Thank you Mr Chairperson, members of the Committee.  Mr Bellingan, if you could just start with a few sections, few questions regarding Vlakplaas itself.  Some of these have already been covered by my colleague, but if you will be patient with me.
	If we could just deal with the reason for the existence of Vlakplaas as a covert operational centre.  Would you just deal with that briefly again?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: Methods were taken over from the Rhodesian Bush War and the South West African Bush War and was decided that the combatting of terrorism in South Africa would be centralised in one place and that was Operation Vlakplaas, which was a covert operation and it was established by General Johan Coetzee and General Fikter, they were all involved, and the idea was to adopt those methods used in Rhodesia.  For instance, that you turn the terrorists and that the terrorists would then give then co-operation and work with the system and against their former colleagues and all information would be centralised there in the, at the Information Desk, the database would be there.  So, the idea was to co-ordinate the action against terrorism, that it would be one central point from where it would be launched.
	I also believe that when we started there we were given forms and on this form, I think it was a S8, 68 form, whatever, which said that you were now a member of a unit combatting terrorism and that wherever you go throughout the country at a police station that you should be given assistance.  In other words, being a member of Vlakplaas opened doors for you.  In other words, the idea was to establish an elite unit to combat terrorism and with that also went covert actions against the liberation movements.

MR B WILLIAMS: Thank you.  Now, you have already mentioned in reply to questions from my colleague, Mr Williams, that the intention was that Vlakplaas would act outside the normal police investigative procedures to combat, as you say, resistance to the Government of the day?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: That is correct, yes.  It was one of the units which had been established to, for instance, if there had been cross-border operation, in those days, Vlakplaas would be used.  Any country in the world had that type of unit.

MR B WILLIAMS: Yes, but to get to the short point of this all, death by assassination, cross-border raids, anti-insurgency operations, torture of popular leaders, this was all part of Vlakplaas' modus operandi, not so?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: I do not know if it was part of the modus operandi, I think it was part of the task and purpose and function of Vlakplaas.  These things were selected.  It was not a matter of just doing all these things at random, these were controlled operations and the orders came from above and it would have been controlled and done in a very professional way and it would not just have been a free for all.

MR B WILLIAMS: Yes, but free for all, then, Captain Bellingan, it is those aspects which actually distinguished Vlakplaas from the other normal police operations.  That is the point.

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: That is correct.

MR B WILLIAMS: If I understand you correctly, you were one of the first intakes of Vlakplaas.  In fact, you were there from its inception?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: That is correct.  I arrived there on the third of August 1981 and I finished there on the sixth of March 1983.

MR B WILLIAMS: If I also understand you correctly, you will agree that the operatives who were selected to be part of Vlakplaas were essentially combat trained or had combat experience?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: Most of these members, I suppose there were a couple of exceptions, but most of these people had a counter-insurgency unit and had training in that regard and were selected for the security branch.

MR B WILLIAMS: You were not employing your ordinary uniformed staff at Vlakplaas?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: People were recruited from the uniformed branch if they had the necessary discipline and if they were required with certain requisites.  So, it was possible that people from uniformed branch came there.

MR B WILLIAMS: But you will accept that the predominating requirements was anti-insurgency experience and, as my colleague has questioned you, possibly even experience in Koevoet and you have mentioned yourself, experience in Rhodesia, as you call it?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: It was not a tradition, it was simply that it had happened in South West Africa and it was not, actually, a laid down guideline of things which people had to comply with, but there was a very definite selection procedure.

MR B WILLIAMS: And the reason for that is that Vlakplaas was going to be engaged predominantly as a, at a military level, if we want, then call it that.  Do you agree?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: Yes, I would rather say as a para-military unit.  I think we were better than other military units as well.

MR B WILLIAMS: Now, you were aware of the fact that murder, I say again, deception, fraud, housebreaking, robbery, we all know that today these were some of the things that Vlakplaas got involved in, not so?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: No, Chairperson, we were never involved in armed robbery or rapes.  Well, it is murder when you kill somebody else, but we did not get involved in murders and rapes and robberies for our own benefit.  The murders committed there, if you want to interpret it like that, was simply from one project to another project.

MR B WILLIAMS: But you will agree that these were illegal activities, not so?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: Yes, they were illegal.

MR B WILLIAMS: You were not bound to stay at Vlakplaas were you?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: Please repeat that question?

MR B WILLIAMS: You were not bound to stay at Vlakplaas, you could have been transferred out of Vlakplaas if you wanted to be?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: At one point I did ask for a transfer after I did an Officers Course and the feeling was that I should not leave, that we were going through a very, very difficult time and I think it was said that the old operators should not run away and Colonel de Kock was satisfied with my services, he saw me as a good group leader and he regularly commended me and also wrote complimentary notes on my file and I enjoyed my work.  Today we are actually sorry that we were so exploited and abused by the generals and the politicians.

MR B WILLIAMS: Yes, quite obviously you enjoyed your work, Mr Bellingan, you stayed there for about 11 years?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: That is correct.

MR B WILLIAMS: Now, this is not withstanding the fact that you were aware of the fact that Vlakplaas operated by, essentially, unlawful means.

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: At that stage I had no moral scruples in serving in a unit such as Vlakplaas.  I was proud of that fact and I was often praised and we were given medals and honourary awards.  Today I am sorry that I did not remain a uniformed policeman, but at that stage I believed in what I was doing.  We were not only committing illegal actions left and right, it was a controlled setup and operation.

MR B WILLIAMS: Is it not correct that you were aware of the fact that, if it is not you yourself, but your colleagues at Vlakplaas, were involved in the murder of people and the disappearance of people, you were aware of that?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: We heard that people were, from time to time, involved.

MR B WILLIAMS: You were aware of people being tortured on a regular basis at Vlakplaas?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: Yes, we knew about that.

MR B WILLIAMS: And that was the predominating nature of its work?

W RIAAN BELLINGAN: It was not the normal procedure.  I think we can mention many, many instances today where I was involved in counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism actions where we did not assault these people.  Some of them just immediately surrendered and hand over their weapons, so it was not normal procedure.