Amnesty Hearings — Boksburg — 1998-06-24

UNKNOWN: Well that was about 45 minutes to an hour later then Mr Myburgh alone arrived, Cliff Barnard was not in the vehicle.  I noticed that the vehicle was heavily loaded and I asked Koper what do you have in the boot of the car, why is the car so heavy, and he said: "fertiliser".  That is where we finished the conversation.

MR PRINSLOO: And that same day after Koper and Barnard arrived was there an incident where another person turned up?

UNKNOWN: Yes.  Myburgh told us at that stage that we had to wait there, he specifically is waiting for Barnard and about 15 to 20 minutes later a vehicle arrived.  At that stage it was an unknown person to me. Mr Barnard got out of the car together with Koper Myburgh got into their vehicle and we left and returned to Ventersdorp.

MR PRINSLOO: And that person, is he still unknown to you today, his identity?

UNKNOWN: Afterwards I made enquiries and I found out that it was the Commanding Officer, the General of Bloemfontein and Welkom district.

MR PRINSLOO: And what was his name? ...[intervention]

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Venter, the glasses you are wearing, are they prescribed glasses?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I have light-sensitive eyes so they are prescribed glasses.

MR PRINSLOO: So did you determine what that person's name was, the unknown person that is, the General of the Free State?

UNKNOWN: Yes. I forgot his name now, I will get back to it.

MR PRINSLOO: Very well.  From there you went to Klerksdorp, is that correct?

UNKNOWN: Ja, on their way to Ventersdorp Koper turned off at Klerksdorp and we went around a small holding and when we stopped there Cliff Barnard told me to take the Golf of Philip van Coller and to reverse it in so that we can pick up things at the specific smallholding.

MR PRINSLOO: Can you remember the colour of that Golf?

UNKNOWN: It was yellow.

MR PRINSLOO: And then what happened?

UNKNOWN: I reversed the vehicle under the verandah. There were sand bags or plastic bags which the army used.  We got the bags from that and underneath that there were still other bags, so Cliff told me to make room, we must make room in the car so we can load these things and then I realised that it was heavy and I asked why is it heavy and at that stage I was told it was the pipe bombs which we must take up to Ventersdorp.

MR PRINSLOO: And from there you left?

UNKNOWN: Directly after we packed the Golf we went to Ventersdorp.

MR PRINSLOO: And did you go to the game farm?

UNKNOWN: When we arrived at Ventersdorp we just got our kit from Garde house and we followed Koper Myburgh. I didn't know where this place was until we actually got there.

CHAIRPERSON: Mr Venter just explain how do the pipe bombs work? What is a pipe bomb?

UNKNOWN: Chairperson at that stage of the fight I did not actually see the things, they were inside the bags. I just asked what is it and they said it is pipe bombs and I said: "Are they safe"? and they said no they are already loaded and the fuses are already inside them.  I rebelled a bit against that, I didn't actually take it out and looked at them.  I loaded them into the vehicle and at the game farm I only heard what the form is and how they work.

CHAIRPERSON: Please describe them to us?

UNKNOWN: Chairperson for me at that stage a pipe bomb is a pipe that is a bomb and when I saw the things physically in front of me, there were long ones, there were short ones, thick, thin ones, they had different shapes.  What I could determine from what I saw in front of me, it is a normal piece of metal like a water pipe which they welded together at the bottom and then they threw explosives inside of it and at the top it is covered up and it was nutted, there was a bit of metal there and the fuse stuck out of that and that is where you ignite it and then you throw it.  That is all I know about these things Chairperson.

MR PRINSLOO: Mr Venter, at the game farm on Sunday the 24th of April, were there certain specific instructions given to you and others with regards to the pipe bombs?

UNKNOWN: The Sunday evening, yes.  During the day we did guard duties that type of thing and we slept the evening we woken up or I was woken up and I was told to go outside.  I got outside and the men were already busy explaining the pipe bombs to the people and they told the people that they wanted specific groups to go and do certain missions.

MR PRINSLOO: Mr Venter were you chosen to accompany a specific group?

UNKNOWN: Yes a specific person, Cruywagen that is, asked me if I know the Randfontein area and I said I know it well and they asked me to be the driver of a vehicle and to accompany them to Randfontein.

MR PRINSLOO: In your group you have mentioned Cruywagen?

UNKNOWN: It was me, Cruywagen and Clint Ellish.

MR PRINSLOO: Ellish.  What was the target?

UNKNOWN: We were told that we must target a taxi rank in Randfontein.

MR PRINSLOO: You and Ellish and Cruywagen, did you then go to Randfontein?

UNKNOWN: The next morning early we left the game farm and we went to Randfontein, that is correct yes.

MR PRINSLOO: So was there a target targeted and was there an explosion?

UNKNOWN: Yes, we arrived in Randfontein, we approached the taxi rank in Randfontein, we drove up and down a few times to make sure we are at the right spot. The bomb was planted at the taxi rank in Randfontein in a toilet and when we left, several seconds afterwards the bomb exploded and we returned to the game farm.

MR PRINSLOO: Mr Venter, you already told the Committee of what you were found guilty, would you just go to page 9, it is at page 150 of the record and in this paragraph 21 of yours you say amongst others
"I identified myself with these deeds because I was doing it for the freedom struggle"
And this is with regards to the explosion in Johannesburg?

UNKNOWN: That is correct.

MR PRINSLOO: Were you involved in any way with the explosion in Johannesburg in Bree Street?

UNKNOWN: Chairperson, I became involved when I arrived at Ventersdorp until I knew that the fertiliser was loaded into the vehicle.  I was tasked to load pipe bombs and from there we went to the game farm, at the game farm.  During the whole Sunday the bomb exploded in Bree Street.  After the bomb exploded - we had a television at the game farm, during that time I realised that this was the struggle for freedom which is now in progress, this is the war they were talking about, this vehicle bomb which exploded and I identified myself with that.

CHAIRPERSON: How did you contribute to the explosion in Bree Street?

UNKNOWN: No, I did not contribute to that at all. No I was not involved at all.

CHAIRPERSON: Not at all?

UNKNOWN: Not, at all.

CHAIRPERSON: Did you know it was going to explode?

UNKNOWN: No, I didn't know it was planned.

CHAIRPERSON: You were not part of the plans?

UNKNOWN: No, I was not.

CHAIRPERSON: So first time you heard about this was when you heard that it actually exploded?

UNKNOWN: Yes, only afterwards.

CHAIRPERSON: Was it seen on television?

UNKNOWN: Yes, I saw it on television.

MR PRINSLOO: Mr Venter, did you know what was happening at Koesterfontein?

UNKNOWN: No.

MR PRINSLOO: And the bomb in Bree Street which exploded did you learn who was responsible for it?

UNKNOWN: Yes.  After the bomb actually exploded, first we heard it on the radio and at a later stage I saw it on television and on television I made the conclusion that it was Koper Myburgh's vehicle in which they were driving because I went from Ventersdorp to Welkom and back to Ventersdorp and I was in that vehicle  so I noticed the parts in the street where the cameraman took the shots and I turned to Koper Myburgh and I said that is your vehicle.

MR PRINSLOO: Mr Venter, was there any specific reason why you had to make a bomb go off at a taxi rank?