Amnesty Hearings — Durban — 1999-08-11

MR NEL: Thank you, Mr Chairperson.  I call the next applicant, which is Captain Jerry Brooks.

JERRY J BROOKS: (sworn states)

MR NEL: Thank you, Mr Chairperson.  Mr Brooks' application is found in the Cele bundle, starting on page 11 and the short summary of his evidence will then be marked, if it may be Exhibit H.

CHAIRPERSON: H.  Thank you very much.

MR NEL: Mr Brooks, you are applying for your participation in the abduction of Dion Cele from Swaziland, am I correct?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes, that is correct.

MR NEL: And during the time of this incident you were stationed in the Security Branch in Pietermaritzburg?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes, that is correct.

MR NEL: And Col Vorster was your direct Commander?

JERRY J BROOKS: That is correct.

MR NEL: It is also then Col Vorster who tasked you to assist with this operation.

JERRY J BROOKS: That is correct.

MR NEL: You have heard the evidence given by the previous applicants insofar as it affects you, do you confirm the correctness thereof?  And you have also had the opportunity to study Annexure A, or Exhibit A.  Do you request for this to be incorporated in your application?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes.

MR NEL: Before we continue with the facts of the matter, is it correct that upon a previous occasion when you did not have legal representation, you were questioned about this particular incident and at that stage you denied any knowledge of the incident?

JERRY J BROOKS: That is correct.

MR NEL: Could you briefly explain to the Committee why this was so.

JERRY J BROOKS: This was in the 16th of November 1996 ...(intervention)

CHAIRPERSON: In what application was that?

JERRY J BROOKS: It was not an application, I was subpoenaed by the TRC to give evidence before them in camera.

MR NEL: Was it also so that you submitted your amnesty application through me?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes.

MR NEL: Could you explain to the Committee briefly why you did not tell the truth at that stage?

JERRY J BROOKS: Firstly, I was uncertain whether the SAPS would participate in the amnesty process and secondly, at that stage I did not have any legal representation, and that is why I denied it.

MR NEL: But today you are here to tell the truth and you request amnesty for this?

JERRY J BROOKS: That is correct.

MR NEL: Your participation in this particular incident was quite remote.  Am I correct in saying that you and Col Taylor did not even enter Swaziland, but that you waited outside the Swaziland border on a farm near Amsterdam, for the group which is already known to us?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes, we waited at the border post near Nerston.

MR NEL: Were you in any way involved in the interrogation of Dion Cele?

JERRY J BROOKS: No.

MR NEL: Were you involved, or were you on the farm after he had been brought back to Elandskop near Pietermaritzburg?

JERRY J BROOKS: No, not at all.

MR NEL: And at that stage you did not know that Dion Cele had been eliminated, but later you found this out.

JERRY J BROOKS: That is correct.

MR NEL: Was there any reward that you received from anybody for your participation in this operation?

JERRY J BROOKS: None whatsoever.

MR NEL: Your political objectives are contained within your application on page 15 of the Cele bundle, paragraph 10 and further.  Do you confirm the correctness thereof?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes, I confirm this.

MR NEL: Thank you, Mr Chairperson, that is the evidence by Mr Brooks.
NO FURTHER QUESTIONS BY MR NEL

CHAIRPERSON: What did you do at the border post?

JERRY J BROOKS: Col Taylor and I went to the post, it was part of the operation to see whether everything was safe for the group's return from Swaziland.

CHAIRPERSON: What were you required specifically for?

JERRY J BROOKS: I am not certain, but what I inferred was that I had to accompany Col Taylor so that he would not go on this aspect of the operation by himself.

CHAIRPERSON: Were you told what it was all going to be about?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes, I was briefed about the purpose behind the operation.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you know that somebody was to be abducted and brought into the country?

JERRY J BROOKS: That is correct, I knew about it.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you know the individual concerned, Dion Cele?  Did you know him?

JERRY J BROOKS: I knew him by name, but I did not know him personally.

CHAIRPERSON: Up till the time that you left Nerston with Taylor, had the vehicle bringing Dion Cele into the country, had it arrived?

JERRY J BROOKS: Upon our arrival at Nerston, the vehicle had not yet arrived.  Approximately a half an hour later, I cannot recall precisely, the vehicle returned.

CHAIRPERSON: And did you see this man, Dion Cele?

JERRY J BROOKS: Yes, I saw him.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you talk to him?

JERRY J BROOKS: I greeted him but I did not speak to him.

CHAIRPERSON: In what language did you greet him?

JERRY J BROOKS: I always greet them in their own language, so I greeted him in Zulu.

CHAIRPERSON: What else did you do after you greeted him?

JERRY J BROOKS: Well I sat around on the farm for that period of time and returned the next day, I didn't really do anything specific.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you have any contact with him on the farm itself?

JERRY J BROOKS: Not really, except when we went through sometimes I saw him but I didn't really have any contact with the man.

CHAIRPERSON: You were not involved in any questioning of the man?

JERRY J BROOKS: No, not at all.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you.

MS THABETHE: No questions, Mr Chair.
NO QUESTIONS BY MS THABETHE

MR LAX: Thank you, Chairperson.
	You were waiting at the border post I understood from your evidence, is that correct?

JERRY J BROOKS: That's correct.

MR LAX: And this vehicle then arrived at the border post about half an hour after you'd got there.

JERRY J BROOKS: Well I wouldn't say it was half an hour, I would say it was approximately half an hour.  It may have taken longer, but it wasn't less than half an hour.

MR LAX: The issue is that it arrived at the border post, the time is not really that material.  Is that correct?

JERRY J BROOKS: It didn't arrive at the border post itself, but more a short distance away.  Where they had crossed the border illegally, that is where we waited on the dirt road.  So we gave them enough time to drive to Manzini and to return, so I would say that our time calculations were rather precise because in terms of the time that it took them to return we didn't really wait that long, we couldn't have waited there longer than an hour.

MR LAX: You see my only worry is this, you waiting at the border post, they've crossed at some other place, on a dirt road where they flattened the fence and gone over, and then how did they arrive at the border post suddenly, where you were waiting?  That's what I don't understand.

JERRY J BROOKS: Let me just explain this.  The place where they crossed was approximately 200 metres from the border, so we would refer to that as the border post because it was within the immediate vicinity of the border post.

MR LAX: I understood from the earlier testimony that they went and crossed somewhere where they wouldn't be seen, they did it unlawfully, how would they then go and cross about 200 metres right there near the border post, they could be seen.  It doesn't make sense to me.

JERRY J BROOKS: I'm saying 200m, but it may be somewhat further.  It could definitely not have been a kilometre or further than that.  Let me say that it was on the eastern side of the Nerston border post, which was very close as far as I can recall.  And I'm referring to this place as the Nerston border post, but it wasn't exactly at the border post, it was approximately 200m away from the border post itself.

MR LAX: No, I hear you, it just leaves some question marks in the back of my head.  I'll leave it at that.

ADV BOSMAN: What was your rank at the stage when you participated in the operation?

JERRY J BROOKS: I was a Constable.