Amnesty Hearings — Klerksdorp — 1999-05-11

MR TERRE'BLANCHE: Mr Chairman, may I just at this stage, because I don't know what the proceedings are going to be like, mention that in all three of these cases there never were any gross human rights violations.  If I could just refer back to the tarring and feathering situation again during which an historian was tarred and feathered.  I would just like to mention that often, especially with regard to the statement being read here yesterday, quite often people stand outside of politics in a specific career, but because of their knowledge and the opportunity play a large political role and could move political thinking in a certain direction.  Churches do the same as well as historians.  Professor Heyns, because of standpoints he took, gave a specific direction to politics and played a large role to the extent that everything points to the fact that it was political activists who also killed the professor.
	I would like to mention those two cases and I would immediately like to add that it was not the style of the AWB to, either within the act of politics or those people getting direction in politics, to kill those people or to in any way harm them bodily.  The furtherest the movement went in our case was to tar and feather the person without there ever being an intention of doing bodily harm to him.
	Coming to the Ventersdorp situation, I would also like to have something to say on that.  I thank you for your patience Mr Chairman.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you Mr Terre'blanche.  Then this just leaves us with the Ventersdorp incident.  Do you wish to say something now, before I make my ruling on the applications or afterwards?  You said you will say something on the Ventersdorp incident.

MR TERRE'BLANCHE: Mr Chairperson, I have just received a piece of information, if you would just allow me to read through it, it won't take a minute.
	Chairperson, no, as regards Ventersdorp, I just want to keep to the standpoint that the intensity in the whole matter was that Mr de Klerk should speak.  We wanted him to appear here and to talk.  We wanted to put questions to him which we believed would bring him great political embarrassment.  We wanted to prove that in places such as Ventersdorp, the rural areas, that he was no longer acceptable.  
	You will remember that Ventersdorp was then already a seat for the Conservative Party and that he had defeated Deputy Minister Wilkins there in the previous election.  We wanted to challenge Mr de Klerk.  It was a few of his, some of his promises which he never kept.  We had the situation of growing squatter camps in the surrounding areas, but what is most important is that we wanted to destroy him politically in Ventersdorp by giving him a - the fact that we did not trust him in Ventersdorp, that we had lost all confidence in him and that he was no longer acceptable as President and as leader of the country.
	I also want to say that, as a result of the arrival of the police and the dogs and the Defence Force and the arrogance which the State President had already dealt with before this situation, before the election, as a result of the media's constant publication that conflict was looming between the AWB and the State President, the inciting of, the interest that was created and the high octane publicity that it received affected not only the AWB but all members who were not members of the National Party.  ...(indistinct) prepared these people spiritually for one or other form of confrontation.
	I also want to mention, which I did not mention yesterday and that is that the member of the Assembly of the Conservative Party, Mr Fanie van Vuuren was between the first three of people who walked to the hall where Mr de Klerk was.  There were many members from the Conservative Party and other parties and that members of the Conservative Party and members of the AWB had armed themselves with sticks etc., with which to hit the dogs who were set loose upon them.  That is true.  A situation of war was created by the media.
	I also want to emphasise that I did have a letter in which it was said that a delegation would meet Mr Amie Coetzee and General Malan who had come to see them in order to make arrangements that these people would be allowed to ask Mr de Klerk questions.  This was at my request and at the request of Mr Rudolph.    	Unfortunately, I reached, this document reached me very late and on receipt thereof, because I had decided to hold my own meeting at the town hall, Ferdie Hartzenberg and I from the Conservative Party, Ferdie had held his meeting that afternoon already.  I don't know whether he had left Ventersdorp but at seven thirty I decided that I would hold a meeting, which we then did.
	However, when the document reached me, that they were prepared to talk, I regarded this as the ideal opportunity and as a breakthrough because I wanted to be in that hall.  I think that I was prepared to meet Mr de Klerk politically and by means of arguments to defeat him there.  On my way to the hall the masses shouted that the would go with and no-one, as was testified, could prevent these people who were not only from the AWB, from also asking questions. These were very extreme circumstances and then unfortunately the incident took place which I mentioned yesterday and I will reply to any questions that you might still have regarding this matter.  I thank you.