Amnesty Hearings — Johannesburg — 1997-04-07

VERNON VOSLOO: I was not a registered member of any organisation, although I was a strong supporter of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, the AWB.  I felt that they were basically moving in the correct direction and I associated with this trend.

ADV MALAN: Did you participate in their movements, meetings, etc?

VERNON VOSLOO: I watched their meetings and that type of thing and I was watching what the people did and thought about them.

ADV MALAN: And according to your understanding, what did they say should happen to counteract the political events?  What was the general feeling?

VERNON VOSLOO: The general feeling amongst the people was to resist a take over.

ADV MALAN: You were not an official as such or an enrolled member of one of these movements, were you?

VERNON VOSLOO: No, I wasn't.

ADV MALAN: Did you regard the Black population as a whole as a threat or just members of a political organisation like the ANC?

VERNON VOSLOO: I regarded Black people in general as an opposition party in the country.

ADV MALAN: If we could then continue with the incident of 10 May 1992, regarding which you will be speaking to the Committee here today.  Could you please tell the Committee what happened there on that particular day?

VERNON VOSLOO: We were standing next to the road, having a few drinks.

ADV MALAN: You are referring to the plural "us", were there other people with you there?

VERNON VOSLOO: I wasn't alone, there were people with me, a few friends.

ADV MALAN: Okay, continue.  You say you were standing next to the road, what time of the day was this?

VERNON VOSLOO: It was in the evening, probably about ten o'clock.

ADV MALAN: What were you drinking?

VERNON VOSLOO: Strong liquor and also lighter alcoholic beverages, like beer.

ADV MALAN: What was your state of intoxication at that stage?

VERNON VOSLOO: It is difficult to say exactly, but I was reasonably drunk at the time.

ADV MALAN: Was it close to a shopping centre of just in a residential area or where was it?

VERNON VOSLOO: It was in a residential area, in front of a shopping complex.

ADV DE JAGER: Could you perhaps give us the detail where, which residential area, which shopping centre so that we know exactly what you are talking about.

VERNON VOSLOO: It was just a cafe with a video shop next to it and the Black man passed there.  I went to my car, I took out a knife, I followed him and about 30, 40 metres further on from that point, I grabbed this man from behind and I stabbed him to death.

ADV MALAN: The Honourable Member of the Committee asked you which shopping centre it was and which residential area?

VERNON VOSLOO: ;	Sorry yes, it was in the South Hills suburb of Johannesburg, in the south.

ADV MALAN: And the shopping centre didn't have a specific shopping centre name?

VERNON VOSLOO: No, it was just a little cafe there.

ADV MALAN: The deceased concerned, I will refer to him as the deceased, did you know him from before the incident?

VERNON VOSLOO: No, I didn't know him.

ADV MALAN: So it was the first time that you saw him?

VERNON VOSLOO: Yes, it was.

ADV MALAN: Did he do anything or was he wearing any clothing that provoked you?  What gave rise to your particular actions on that evening?

VERNON VOSLOO: He didn't to anything to me, he walked passed.  He walked passed and I saw him as the person who could possibly govern me some day.

ADV MALAN: Just to put it in this perspective then, why did you do it, why did you act on that particular evening in that manner?

VERNON VOSLOO: At the time of the deed, the political climate was of such a nature that I was afraid that at the end of the day, I would not have a say in anything.  And the man who was walking passed there was to me part of that which I was afraid of.

ADV MALAN: The people who were there with you, did they assist you in any way in your actions?

VERNON VOSLOO: The people there with me did nothing, they just stood there.

ADV MALAN: They also didn't edge you on, do I understand you correctly?

VERNON VOSLOO: No, they didn't.

ADV MALAN: Okay.  The knife which you fetched from your vehicle, why was the knife in the vehicle, what was the
purpose of carrying it in the vehicle?

VERNON VOSLOO: The knife was always in the vehicle for braai purposes.  I didn't braai all that often, the knife was there for use when I required it.

ADV MALAN: How far away were you from the vehicle?

VERNON VOSLOO: We were standing next to the vehicle.

ADV MALAN: Where specifically in the vehicle, was the knife?

VERNON VOSLOO: In the back, in the boot.

ADV MALAN: When you took out the knife, where was the deceased - the approximate distance away from you?

VERNON VOSLOO: He was probably about 20 metres away from me.

ADV MALAN: Did he walk passed you closer and was he then on his way away from you?

VERNON VOSLOO: Yes, he was walking passed on the opposite side of the street.

ADV MALAN: In which manner did you follow him, did you run, jog, walk?

VERNON VOSLOO: I walked quite fast, just short of jogging to follow him.

ADV MALAN: Did the deceased ever see you coming?

VERNON VOSLOO: I doubt it, I don't think so because I was approaching from behind.

ADV MALAN: Can you please inform the Committee what happened when you reached the deceased?

VERNON VOSLOO: I got to him, I grabbed him from behind and from that position I stabbed him from the front in his chest, any way I could reach.

ADV MALAN: Do you know how many stab wounds you
inflicted on him?

VERNON VOSLOO: From the post mortem I read that I had
stabbed him 14 times.

ADV MALAN: Where were these stab wounds?

VERNON VOSLOO: It was all over his body, in his chest, wherever there was place to stab him.

ADV MALAN: Did the deceased resist in any manner against your attack?

VERNON VOSLOO: No.

ADV MALAN: And after your stabbing him, what happened to the deceased?

VERNON VOSLOO: The deceased dropped to the ground and remained laying there.

ADV MALAN: He probably died there, is that correct?

VERNON VOSLOO: Yes.

ADV MALAN: When he was laying on the ground, what did you do then?

VERNON VOSLOO: I moved back to my car and I drove off.

ADV MALAN: During the trial where you were found guilty, did your friends testify against you, is that correct?

VERNON VOSLOO: Yes, that is correct.

ADV MALAN: If you were to judge your actions on that particular day, did anybody contribute towards your activities, edging you on, in the broader spectrum of things, not just your friends?  In the light of political speeches of the time, etc?

VERNON VOSLOO: The then climate on the eve of the take over was of such a nature that the Afrikaner felt threatened to do something not to be taken over without resisting in any way.

JUDGE WILSON: Did you call this resisting?

VERNON VOSLOO: At the time of the crime I did think it was the correct action.

ADV MALAN: If you were to look back today to the incident, how do you feel about it?

VERNON VOSLOO: I don't believe that I have the vocabulary to say how sorry I am about what I did.  I took the life of an innocent person and it is something which no rational person will do.

ADV MALAN: Do you still think that you achieved anything by your activity, that you could do anything?

VERNON VOSLOO: At this stage no, because the take over is over and things at this stage are not as bad as we had thought at the time, they would be.

ADV MALAN: Was there any other reason for your action against the deceased except for this political motive of yours?

VERNON VOSLOO: No, definitely not.

ADV MALAN: What was the influence of your alcohol consumption on the particular incident that took place?

VERNON VOSLOO: The alcohol made me act irrationally.  And that which was passing through my mind at that stage incited by the alcohol, made me do this.

ADV MALAN: If you were sober on that particular evening, would you have acted in that particular way?