Amnesty Hearings — Port Elizabeth — 1997-10-03

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: I don't know whether it was immediately afterwards, it was the next hour or so, I called Kobus Kok to my office and I explained the circumstances to him, and I tasked him to put things together and to make provision for anything which might occur in the Eastern Cape.

MR KEMP: This Kobus Kok you are referring to, this is Jacobus Kok the fifth applicant?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: That is correct.

MR KEMP: What was his position in your division?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: He was one of the technicians, one of the most reliable and trusted men in my division and we had a very good working relationship.

MR KEMP: And you trusted this man with the project of this  nature?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: Absolutely, yes.

MR KEMP: Which preparatory measures did he have to take?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: With a task of this kind, he had to get various instruments together, and also explosives, and we had to develop a receiver which I had in my possession. I asked him to prepare all these things.

MR KEMP: Where did you get all these items from?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: Regarding the explosives, we had that in our possession.  We made many tests regarding various limpet mines and got one of the techniques we researched regarding this explosive which would be used.  We also used another kind of explosive.  But, I could not say why we had this in our possession, but we discussed this, Kobus Kok and myself, and he explained that that was the kind of explosive we used to dispose of land-mines.  We used this kind of explosive to dispose of the rest of these land-mines. The rest of the instruments were in my office.

MR KEMP: Where did this come from?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: I had a receiver in my possession, and during a research project there was a lead at the explosive division to dispose of the bombs, by remote control.  I received one of these senders and the receivers and I thought it would be useful to use in an operation of this kind.

MR KEMP: Whom did you decide would execute this matter in Port Elizabeth?  Who was the person who would be involved?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: There was nobody else that I could send with Kobus. Therefore, I went with him.

MR KEMP: When did you leave for Port Elizabeth?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: We went after office hours and I think Kobus picked me up at nine o'clock that evening.

MR KEMP: That was the vehicle made available to you by De Kock?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: That is correct.

MR KEMP: Did you drive right through the night to Port Elizabeth?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: That's correct.

MR KEMP: So you arrived in Port Elizabeth early the next morning, the morning of the 14th of December 1989?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: That is correct.

MR KEMP: At what time did you arrive here?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: I think it was round about five o'clock, it was still dark.

MR KEMP: What happened after your arrival?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: We went to a garage near the beach.  We stopped there for fuel, we washed our faces.  A little  distance from there we called Nieuwoudt.

MR KEMP: What arrangement was made with him?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: We did not know Port Elizabeth at all. We told him where we were.  He came to fetch us from there.

MR KEMP: Did he fetch you from where you were near the beach?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: Correct.

MR KEMP: Where did you go to?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: He took us to a private house in one of the residential areas.

MR KEMP: What happened there?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: When we arrived there, two of De Kock's men were there.  We did not know which of these men would be involved. We found Snor Vermeulen and Snyman. They were busy preparing breakfast.

MR KEMP: Was there anybody else present?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: The two of us were there, the two men I have previously mentioned, Nieuwoudt, and also another person I did not know. I still do not know who it was.

MR KEMP: In your application you said it was an older person, who at a certain stage appeared to be a senior officer.

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: That is correct.

MR KEMP: But up to today you do not know who it was?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: No.

MR KEMP: Do you have a suspicion who it was?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: After discussions I had later on, the people told me, Nieuwoudt told me actually, that it was Brig Gilbert.

MR KEMP: From this house, what happened afterwards?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: We left there in a convoy, we drove in the same vehicle we arrived there.  We went to a certain point with a lot of trees.  We stayed there for an hour.  During this time Nieuwoudt left us and he went to fetch the Jetta. He came back where he joined us at the point where he had left us.

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: Does that mean he went to a certain point, left you and came back later on with the Jetta? Is that correct?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: Yes.

MR KEMP: Is that the Jetta in which the explosive device was put in?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: Yes.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Kemp, I think we must take it from there.

MR KEMP: As the Court pleases.

CHAIRPERSON: Let him tell us what he did from the Jetta, let us take it from the time the Jetta was given to him.

MR KEMP: From that point on you went to a different place.

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: That is correct.

MR KEMP: Where did you go to?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: I do not know that place. It was in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth, on the outskirts, it was in an area with a lot of trees.  We stopped under the trees.

MR KEMP: Now just for the full information of the Committee I want to ask you, you mentioned the people whom  you saw at the house, but one of the people who was here you did not mention, that is Martiens Ras.  When did he get involved?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: As far as I can remember, I can remember vaguely, I didn't see him at this house, but he joined us somewhere on this road where he went with us to this area.  We started working there, that is Kobus Kok and myself. We removed the seats and the carpets in order to place the explosive device.  The other people were standing there and assisted us from time to time, handing instruments, et cetera. Then we placed the explosives in the car.

MR KEMP: Did any of the people who were there, assist you to assemble this vehicle and place in the explosives?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: They might have assisted us in assembling, but placing the explosives was done by us, the technical people.

MR KEMP: After the explosives were placed in the vehicle, what happened then?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: It was placed in such a way that it could not be - that it was not noticeable.  The various charges were connected.  The receiver we put in the boot and we also attached that.  So it would mean, and ensured that it would be safe during a journey.

MR KEMP: Who would activate this system when it became necessary?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: We gave the code for activation to Nieuwoudt.

ADV DE JAGER: Before you continue.  Can you just keep your hands from the microphone. I don't know whether it is you or Mr Kemp but something is making a lot of noise on our ear-phones.

MR KEMP: Who would be responsible for the eventual handling and the detonation of this device?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: We described what to do to Nieuwoudt and he would be the person who would activate the code and initiate the detonation.

MR KEMP: After this vehicle was prepared by you, what happened then?

WYBRANDT ANDREAS LODEWIKUS DU TOIT: After we had finished our work, we got all our things together and we left the scene.