Special Hearings — Trojan Horse Hearings — 1997-05-21

CHAIRPERSON: I will ask Miss Glenda Wildschut to explain the mechanism of the interpretation.
MISS WILDSCHUT EXPLAINS THE DEVICES

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.  I would like to welcome here today the people who have come to testify before us and to thank them for having done so and also to welcome the members of the public who are here.
 We are particularly pleased to note that there are several schools who have sent groups of students here today.  I am told that Alexander Sinton, Bridgetown, Habibia and Belgravia High are represented.  And since part of the task of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to discover the truth of our history so that we may learn from it, it is particularly appropriate that young people should be here today, and we welcome you.   
 I bring you the greetings and apologies of our Chairperson, Archbishop Tutu who is unable to be with us here today.  
 I would just like to refer to yesterday's hearing when we heard from the people who were directly affected by the event which has become known as the Trojan Horse.  It was quite an emotional day and some of those family members will be joining us later today to be part of this hearing.  
 I would like to remind you all too that this is not a court proceeding, we will not be making findings at the end of this day.  The proceedings today are really today to help us, once again, to understand the reality of what happened during that period of conflict, of intense conflict in this part of Cape Town in 1985.  Our objective is to gather information, it's not accusatory and we expect everybody to help us to reach an understanding of what happened. So in that spirit we welcome you all here today.
 The various people who speak before us will be led by different members of our panel, so I would like to introduce you - on my left is Dr Mapule Ramashala and beside here Dumisa Ntsebeza.  On my right is Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, and to her right is Glenda Wildschut.  My name is Mary Burton.
 So without any further introduction we will proceed and the first person to testify before us is Brigadier Christiaan Loedolff and Dr Ramashala will introduce his evidence.
 I would ask Miss Wildschut to administer the oath but we are told that this witness will not swear the oath but will confirm his commitment to the contents of his statement.

UNKNOWN: (affirms)

MAPULE RAMASHALA: Mr Loedolff good morning.

UNKNOWN: Chairperson if I may.  Mr Loedolff has prepared a confirmed statement of the events and with your leave he would like to read that out, and hand in the statement and maybe that would form a good basis from which to question him.

CHAIRPERSON: That's fine, thank you.

UNKNOWN: May he go ahead and read out that statement?

CHAIRPERSON: Yes go ahead.

UNKNOWN: Chairperson I will now read my statement which I have affirmed.
"I Christiaan Loedolff declare as follows
 I am an adult male.  I am a retired Brigadier in the former South African Police and I live in Laaiplek.
 I received a notice to appear on the 21st of May this year before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to testify and to answer questions relating to the so-called Trojan Horse incident.  In order to assist the Commission I decided to make this statement.   
 During October 1985 I was a major in the then South African Railway Police.  I was the commanding officer of the regional task force of the South African Railway Police.  This regional task force did duty in the unrest racked areas along with members of the South African Police and the South African Defence Force.
 During October 1985 there were various incidents of unrest in and around Nyanga and also in Athlone.  These incidents usually were attacks aimed at private vehicles.  Vehicles were stoned and in some cases set alight.  In other cases blockades were erected to cause vehicles to stop and the vehicles were then damaged.  Attempts to arrest those responsible by means of normal police procedures were unsuccessful seeing as the people immediately fled as soon as they noticed police vehicles.
 Myself and the Commanding Officer of the South African Police and the South African Defence Force contingent, tasked with unrest control in a particular area planned, from a joint operational centre in Manenberg and we operated from that centre.  Colonel Janse van Rensburg of the South African Police, Commander S Pienaar of the South African Defence Force and myself decided during the afternoon of the 15th of October that the only way in which we would succeed in apprehending the main culprits behind these incidents of stoning etc would be to used an unmarked vehicle to enter the area with some members concealed on the truck so that if the vehicle was stoned it would then be able to follow and apprehend and arrest the attackers.  The problem was that we couldn't send in policemen in private clothes because it was important that those to be arrested had to realised that they were being arrested by Police.  The members therefore had to be able to act in uniform and we couldn't place members in full uniform on the back of tracks because that would also defeat the whole purpose of the exercise.  It was decided to use a Railways Police truck and to place crates on the back of this truck in which we could conceal members and in this way try to apprehend the attackers.
 I told Lt Douw Vermeulen of the South African Railway Police and I sent him a radio message to come and speak to me.  I then gave him an instruction to take some of his members and members of the South African Police who would be made available by Colonel van Rensburg and to launch this particular operation.  
 I explained to Vermeulen what we intended doing and showed him the truck to be used.  I specifically instructed him that the people who were to travel on this truck had to be armed with side arms as well as shotguns and they had to be given AAA bullets.  Heavier ammunition was not to be used.   
 I also explained to Vermeulen that should they find themselves in a situation where it was necessary to fire they had to exercise caution that those people on the left-hand side of the vehicle should not fire into the crates and thereby endangering their own comrades.  I accordingly instructed him that he had to ensure that they had to know exactly in which direction to fire if necessary.
 I can also remember that, according to Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act it was also discussed with Vermeulen.  I explained the route to him, namely Klipfontein Road in the direction of the Athlone Police Station and then through Belgravia Road and Thornton Road and from there onwards to Lansdowne Road, around Crossroads and back to the Manenberg Police Station.  I made it very clear to Vermeulen that the whole object of the exercise was that those people responsible for the attacks had to be arrested.
At about 16H30 Lt Vermeulen department on this particular route and in this truck.  At 16H58 Sgt Sayer notified us that there had been an operation and that more people should be sent to Thornton.  An ambulance was immediately ordered to go to the area.
 As further radio reports came through a clearer picture began to emerge of what had happened. There had been an attack by people throwing stones and our members had reacted.  I was also notified that some of our members were lightly injured and that some people had been arrested.
 After an inquest into the matter had been finalised, myself and a couple of other people, inter alia Vermeulen and some of his other members were charged with murder in a private prosecution.  The Attorney General had declined to prosecute.  The prosecution followed a protracted trial of about five months and was unsuccessful.  An appeal was launched to the Appellate Division in Bloemfontein, that was similarly unsuccessful.
 I would like to point out that all efforts ...."