Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1998-08-07

MR LANDMAN: Mr Chairman I would just also recall the evidence of the first applicant where he stated that all he had to do was simply to ensure that the battery was attached, otherwise the explosives were ready, it was properly prepared and clearly it was prepared by person with military knowledge.
	Mr Chairman we submit that the first and second applicants testified as to the motives of the first applicant, Mr Chairman this being one of the criteria, and to a lesser extent - this is on page 15, paragraph 18 - and to a lesser extent the motives of the second applicant in committing and participating in the planning of the act.  
	Mr Chairman the first applicant evidence was that he was carrying out the instructions given to him by his MK Commander, Nyanda, and was thereby advancing the objectives and policies of the ANC which were inter alia to attack and afflict injury on South African Police personnel.
	Mr Chairman similarly the second applicant's motives in training the first applicant in the use of explosives and supplying such explosives and the remote control were similarly to advance the policies of the ANC and MK to take the armed struggle to the White areas and to attack members of the South African Police.  Mr Chairman we submit again the fact that the second applicant was in exile and was part of the MK command structures, again re-emphasises the fact that this was, that the motive was to further the aims of the ANC at the time.
	Mr Chairman as was pointed out in Gerber case, the guidelines published under the Indemnity Act of 1990 are also to be taken into account by the Committee in terms of Section 24 and Mr Chairman the reason why I refer to that is because the guidelines in that case are - in some cases are slightly more explanatory and when dealing with the guidelines, one of them is the motive of the offender, that is to say if it is an offence that is committed with a political motive in mind for example to advance the objectives of a political organisation or whether it was for a personal motive.  Mr Chairman our submission is that clearly this was with a political motive in mind.
	Mr Chairman as far as the context within which the act occurred we submit it is clearly within the context of an armed struggle which had been moved into the white areas and that members of the South African Police were at that stage considered to be legitimate targets in terms of ANC policy and again I make the point I'm not suggesting that they only became legitimate targets at that particular point.

CHAIRPERSON: Well in this regard should we not also have regard to evidence led at other applications held before this Committee.  I cannot recollect the exact date of the bombing of Cosatu House, it was in May 1987 as I recollect, I can't remember the precise date.  But the officer who conducted that attack gave evidence before us saying he enquired into the instructions he was given because it was the first illegal attack the police had been asked to perform within the country.  Up till then all their illegal attacks had been on ANC bases and personnel outside the country, so I would think that it was, is a consideration that we should have regard that the war was not only one-sided at that time, the South African Police, on the evidence given by a very competent and senior policeman in this regard were conducting attacks aimed at killing people outside and damaging property outside the Republic prior to this - at about this time and prior to this time.