Amnesty Hearings — Durban — UNKNOWN

WITNESS:   Well, they should not leave any tracks at all at the scene.

MR JANSEN: Yes.  Did you give them any further instructions as to how they should go about achieving that goal?

WITNESS:   By putting on old clothes, which they should hand to me after the operation, which they did.  They took his car away, they parked it on the parking lot between C R Swart Square and the Magistrate's Court, and handed me their clothes, and I left.  I then went to Warrant-Officer Paul van Dyk and Constable Braam du Preez, whom I gave instructions to take Mr Mxenge's car and leave for Golela Border Post, where we had a Security Policeman based, Frik Pienaar, Warrant-Officer Frik Pienaar at the time, where I would meet them on the road by lunch time the next morning just - or the next afternoon, just before Golel Border Post, when one continues from Durban on the North Coast Road.  I then went to the married quarters on C R Swart Square to Brigadier van der Hoven's flat where he was living with his family, and reported to him that the mission has been completed, and according to reports that Mr Mxenge was killed;  that the vehicle was already on its way up the North Coast.  And he was concerned about whether we left any possible traces or tracks then, and I assured him that I don't think so.  He asked me to report back to him the next morning.  I did go back on the morning of the 20th at half past seven, and he said it was instructions from headquarters that we should immediately pull up the whole team and get out of Durban as soon as possible back to Vlakplaas in Pretoria.  I instructed the

MR JANSEN: /team

MR JANSEN: team accordingly, after which they left, and I on my own

MR JANSEN: went up the North Coast Road, where I met up with Paul van Dyk and Braam du Preez just to the south - a few kilometres to the south of the Pongola River, before you reach Golel.

MR JANSEN: If I may interrupt at this stage again.  Did van der Hoven tell you anything, or relay to you any report-back or any repercussions of the death of Mr Mxenge?

WITNESS:   He did at the morning meeting told me on the 20th that Mr Mxenge's wife has phoned already to inquire whether the Security Police hadn't possibly arrested him the previous night, because he did not come home.  I met up with Paul van Dyk and Braam du Preez, and we took the car to an empty police house at Golel Border Post, which I can identify, and which was vacant at the time, with other words between the 19th and the 23rd of November 1981.  The car was parked in the garage, and Warrant-Officer Frik Pienaar undertook to look after the car for us.  We locked the garage.  We thereafter returned to the Golela River, and, coming up from the Durban side, just after crossing the river, to the left-hand side, next to the river, we turned into a small little road, where Mr Mxenge's jacket and wallet was burned, and his watch and the numberplates of the vehicle was thrown into the reeds next to the river.

MR JANSEN: If I may interrupt again.  You said the Golela River.  Should that not possibly be the Pongola River?

WITNESS:   Pongola River.  My apologies, Mr Chairman.  We then proceeded with my police car, myself, Paul van Dyk and Braam du Preez, to Pretoria, where on Saturday morning early I visited Brigadier Jan du Preez at his

MR JANSEN: /smallholding

MR JANSEN: smallholding, where he was busy amongst his fruit trees on

MR JANSEN: the smallholding.  He told me that Mr Mxenge's death caused an uproar and the whole world was buzzing, and I then asked, "What should I do with the car because it's brand-new?" and whether there was a possibility that we could exchange the car with another unit, for instance Kufoot(?) with a car they might have for use for us, and he immediately said, "No, we must burn the car and get rid of it."  On the Sunday night after the murder we - myself, Koos Vermeulen and Paul van Dyk - took my Datsun car, with an additional 25 litres of petrol, from Vlakplaas and proceeded to Golel, but because of the fact that my Datsun's spare wheel was flat I stopped at Bronkhorstspruit to borrow Captain Koos Vermeulen's spare wheel from his Datsun Laurel.  He insisted that he wanted to go with.  We then left, the four of us, down to Golel, where we picked up Mr Mxenge's car.  Either on the way there or on the way back, I can't remember, we put in petrol at Piet Retief Police Station in my official car, and Warrant-Officer Paul van Dyk signed the petrol book.  The 25 litres additional petrol which we took with was for the purpose that should it be traced later they would try to prove that I could do the distance to Golel, and where the car was burned, and back to Pretoria with my vehicle.  I could prove that I didn't have sufficient petrol in the vehicle to do that distance.  So the 25 litres were added on the way back, I think, if I remember correctly.  At Golel Border Post we picked up Mr Mxenge's Audi.  I drove it, and Sergeant Koos Schutte, after taking five litres of petrol from the car underneath, because he couldn't get a pipe through the petrol intake - there was some blockage,

MR JANSEN: I don't

MR JANSEN: I don't know, a sieve or something, to burn the car with.

MR JANSEN: I drove it, and whilst driving, and while Paul van Dyk and Koos Vermeulen were driving in front with the police car to make sure there's no roadblocks, Schutte took out the radio and the speakers of the car.  The first turn-off before Pongola - before Piet Retief, we turned off towards Mahamba Border Post, and then again getting to the T-junction shortly before Mahamba we turned again left, and fairly soon right on the Botha's Hoep Border Post road.  That area was very familiar to Warrant-Officer Paul van Dyk because he himself and Warrant-Officer Frik Pienaar was the two representatives of Ermelo Security Branch office respectively based at Oshoek Border Post, Paul van Dyk, and Pine Pienaar at Golel Border Post.  They then led - Paul has then led us to a crossing point, a well known crossing point of ANC cadres coming from Swaziland into the country, a few hundred yards to the south towards Mahamba Border Post from Botha's Hoep.  In an opening in the plantation the car was parked just far enough away from the trees so that it couldn't cause a forest fire, and petrol was poured over the seats of the vehicle.  The boot was opened, the engine was opened, petrol was poured over it, and eventually set alight after Sergeant Koos Schutte has removed certain articles.  I can't exactly remember what, but I think it involved the spare wheel, seat covers, and I know he struggled with the batter under the left back seat, which he couldn't get out.  Eventually - and the radio, of course, with the speakers.  The car was then set alight.  It was the Sunday night/Monday morning.  I know I previously said round about 3 o'clock.  All I can just add to that is that on

MR JANSEN: /our way

MR JANSEN: our way back to Ermelo, which is - it's a 100 kilometre