Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-04-22

MS VAN DER WALT: Was there any General who was occupied with the area in which you were a commander?

DEON MARTIN: Yes, that's correct, it was General Japie Oelofse.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you fall directly underneath his command?

DEON MARTIN: Phil Kloppers stood directly below his command.

MS VAN DER WALT: During 1993, was there any commentary - you were area 9, is that correct?

DEON MARTIN: Yes.

MS VAN DER WALT: Was there commentary regarding your actions in area 9?

DEON MARTIN: Yes.  General Oelofse, and when I speak of us I speak of myself and Phil Kloppers, he praised us quite often because of the regular and intensive activities which we undertook in our area and he was quite impressed with our area.

MS VAN DER WALT: Why were you stocking up on food?

DEON MARTIN: That was for the war.

MS VAN DER WALT: You also attended a national summit which occurred in Klerksdorp?

DEON MARTIN: That's correct.

MS VAN DER WALT: Can you tell the Committee what happened there?

DEON MARTIN: It was basically an AWB National Summit which was held at which Eugene Tererblanche and Constant Viljoen were guest speakers.  During their discussions with us I could clearly understand that war was imminent.  Eugene Terreblanche himself said on many an occasion that he would appoint himself as Constant Viljoen's Corporal because the war was in fact so imminent.

MS VAN DER WALT: You are now speaking of the war, what do you mean by that?

DEON MARTIN: Basically that was the resistance which the Afrikaner Volksfront had been planning.  Constant Viljoen had certain Generals which he would have commandeered and it would have been a basic revolution which would be executed to take over the country.

MS VAN DER WALT: Are you aware whether the Defence Force would have delivered any input regarding this, was this discussed?

DEON MARTIN: According to Constant Viljoen, the Defence Force would definitely been involved.

MS VAN DER WALT: And within the area where you operated, did you provide any further training thereafter?

DEON MARTIN: Practically every weekend we provided intensive training to all the members.

MS VAN DER WALT: Was there ever any kind of secret conferences held by the CP, the AWB and other organisations as such?

DEON MARTIN: I was present at one time, this was at the Embassy Hotel where we did some work for General Oelofse.  He had booked himself in as Mr Smith and it was there where a conference was held with the CP and the Freedom Front.

MS VAN DER WALT: Which members of the Freedom Front and the Volksfront were there?

DEON MARTIN: I can't say with certainty but I know that at a certain point Ferdie Hartzenberg and Constant Viljoen did attend but I was not there.

MS VAN DER WALT: Do you know whether subsequent to the conference any action was taken by the General's staff the AWB?

DEON MARTIN: General Oelofse would call us together frequently and tell us to prepare ourselves for a war that we would not continue with the elections and that is basically the only commentary that I have regarding that.

MS VAN DER WALT: On the 12th of December 1993, approximately a quarter to 7 of that evening, could you please tell the Honourable Committee what happened then?

DEON MARTIN: I was sleeping in bed, I had a great deal of pain because my left leg had been amputated.  My wife awoke me and told me she had received a telephone call from the Chief Commandant Kloppers who had given her an instruction, told her to give me the instruction to contact certain members because we had a job to do that night.
	I told my wife that I was going to have a bath and that she should study the list to see who she could contact and commandeer.  I also told her that she should tell them that we would be meeting at Harry's Roadside Cafe in full uniform.

MS VAN DER WALT: What did you understand by going to work?

DEON MARTIN: We often received such instructions, that we would be going to work and then we would guard certain institutions or we would accompany certain people, it could have been anything.

CHAIRPERSON: Could you repeat that for us please?  What did your wife say to you exactly?

DEON MARTIN: That Phil Kloppers had phoned and had told her to convey the instruction to me to contact some people, tell them to be dressed in full uniform because we would be going to work that night and that we would all meet at 9 o'clock at Uncle Harry's Roadside Cafe.

MS VAN DER WALT: Those were members of the AWB?

DEON MARTIN: Yes, those were members of our commando.

MS VAN DER WALT: Very well, you may proceed.

DEON MARTIN: My wife managed to contact a number of people, among them Jaco Badenhorst, Martin van der Schyff, Peter Matthews, Kallie Meiring, there were a number of them.  She did not contact Andre Visser.
MACHINE SWITCHED OFF

DEON MARTIN: Might I just ask for a small break, I'm not quite certain of all those who were involved.  She contacted Peter Matthews and Kallie Meiring, that's correct.  She told them to prepare, put on their uniforms and meet at 9 o'clock at Uncle Harry's Roadside Cafe.

MS VAN DER WALT: Very well, continue.

CHAIRPERSON: Who was phoning all these people, your wife?

DEON MARTIN: Yes, it was my wife, I was in the bath at that point.  I dressed - pardon me, she also contacted Gert Diedericks.  Gert Diedericks then came to my residence, he left his children there to be looked after and we left from that point.  We picked up Badenhorst and Etienne Visser was with him, then we went to fetch van der Schyff and we then moved on to Uncle Harry's Roadside Cafe where we met the others.

MS VAN DER WALT: Very well, you may proceed.

DEON MARTIN: At 9 o'clock Phil Kloppers arrived there.  I brought the people to attention, we saluted.  Phil Kloppers then told us that he was called from an order group, that he  had received an instruction to go and work that night.  I asked him what the work involved, upon which he told me that the General had said that he should apply hard options and that he wanted to see corpses because the revolution would expand on that evening.

MS VAN DER WALT: Yes?

DEON MARTIN: Om rede ons soveel voertuie by ons gehad het, we decided to go to Jaco Badenhorst's residence as his parents were on leave at that time.  We decided to leave some of the vehicles there.  We decided to use my Mercedes and the Nissan Sentra.  We changed the number plates by using insulation tape and changing the numbers as such.
	From there, using the two vehicles, we went to Andre Visser's flat which was about three to four blocks away from the residence.  We all had a drink there.  From there myself and Phil Kloppers and Matthews went in the Mercedes with the Sentra following us to my residence.
	On the way there I asked Kloppers what we would be doing that night.  I suggested that we attack squatter camps upon which he told me that General Oelofse wanted us to set up a roadblock.  We arrived at my residence.   I had all the equipment with me which I received from traffic officers, such as blue lights and reflectors.  We handed them out to the members.

MS VAN DER WALT: Mr Martin, did you ever had firearms on  you?

DEON MARTIN: Always when we went out to work we had our firearms with us.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did everyone have their own firearms or what was the situation?

DEON MARTIN: No, three members didn't have firearms and at the Roadside Cafe itself Phil Kloppers took out two shotguns or handmade shotguns.  He handed over one to Etienne Visser and the other to Martin van der Schyff.

MS VAN DER WALT: Where did he acquire these shotguns?

DEON MARTIN: Kloppers told me that he had received them from General Jaap Oelofse.

MS VAN DER WALT: You've also mentioned that on this particular evening it was said to you that the revolution would begin.

DEON MARTIN: It would begin countrywide.

MS VAN DER WALT: Very well, proceed.  You handed out equipment, what else was there?