Amnesty Hearings — Boksburg — 1998-06-22

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you know that the vehicles, these little groups which were called together, did you know that they were going out with pipe bombs?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, I knew that.  They were pertinently told that, that they would go out on pipe bomb missions.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you know where they were going?

JAN B DE WET: No Chairperson.

MS VAN DER WALT: What happened further?

JAN B DE WET: Then I went to bed.  Some of the groups' duties, this is Dupie and Myburgh who told them this, they brought them apart and said something to them, but I don't know what they were told, I went to bed.
	Early the Monday morning, Dupie woke me up and told me it is time to go.  Me and Dupie then left for Koesterfontein.  On the way to Koesterfontein, I stopped at the garage, I think it was Sasol, I threw gas into my car and from there, we went to Koesterfontein.
	At Koesterfontein, once we arrived there, I've got a yellow Toyota car with a trailer at the back, and it was in the path towards Koesterfontein's house, and there were people busy.  The people who were busy with this trailer was Ettiene le Roux, Clifton Barnard and Koekemoer and Johan Vlok.
	Cliff Barnard called us together and told us okay, the trailer must be hooked onto my vehicle and that it is a trailer bomb which must go to Germiston.

MS VAN DER WALT: And when you received the instruction, why did you adhere to it?

JAN B DE WET: We were in a war and the election had to be stopped at all costs.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you know where this bomb was going?

JAN B DE WET: That was the morning, early that morning Barnard told us that this bomb is going to Germiston.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you know to what specific place this was going?

JAN B DE WET: No, they did not say the specific place.  They said a vehicle must drive in front and the vehicle driving in front, would indicate where this bomb must be exploded.

MS VAN DER WALT: Who had the task of detonating this bomb?

JAN B DE WET: Johan Vlok who was with me, he had the duty to detonate the bomb.

MS VAN DER WALT: Was there any changes made to your car regarding this bomb?

JAN B DE WET: Koekemoer, the way I built that bomb and earlier that evening, I saw how they built it, that two wires from the trailer would be extended up into my car and that at this place, they have to detonate this bomb.

MS VAN DER WALT: Meaning that you, yourself, would do it?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, at that stage, I was willing to give my life for God, country.

MS VAN DER WALT: Who then all left for Germiston?

JAN B DE WET: The vehicle who drove in front, we called it a guide vehicle, or the ghost vehicle, it was Johan du Plessis and my vehicle, the second vehicle which had the bomb, it was me and Johan Vlok.

MS VAN DER WALT: Was there any arrangements made of what the vehicle in front would do?

JAN B DE WET: In both of the vehicles there were Defence Force radio's and the command on the radio would be that the vehicle in front would guide us on the road, and if there is a road block, they would warn us and if possible, we could turn around.
	In the area where the, the radio's did not work in this area where we drove, we drove a bit slower and we drove very close to each other up to where we left the bomb.

CHAIRPERSON: You said that you were willing to give your life for God, your volk and your country?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct.

CHAIRPERSON: What country is this, or father land?

JAN B DE WET: At that stage I believed that it was the Volkstaat that would be established in the Western Transvaal and that the Boere Republics would be established there and that we would get it back in the election.

CHAIRPERSON: What nation?

JAN B DE WET: The Afrikaner nation.

MS VAN DER WALT: You then went to Germiston?

JAN B DE WET: Yes.  Germiston itself, I did not know very well.  When we arrived there, the vehicle in front stopped and gave us a signal.  At that stage, I did not realise that the bomb must be dropped there.
	I continued following and they immediately stopped.  Johan Vlok told me that I must drop the bomb off here.  The vehicle in front drove on, turned off in a side street.  When I got out of my vehicle to unhook the trailer, I saw taxi minibuses and I saw that it was a double lane, the taxi's came from the front, and people got out.
	At that stage I told Vlok we cannot detonate the bomb now, we have to wait because with my vehicle, we cannot turn around.  If we make a U-turn, the streets were too narrow.  One of the minibuses continued. 
	At that stage I also continued, because for me it was not the right time to detonate the bomb.  We carried on in the same road or in the same lane, we saw that there was a parking spot that was open.  We drove around the block, it was on the wrong side of the road, where the parking lot was open.
	I drove around the block to get into the right lane.  Vlok and myself got out, we unhooked this trailer and pushed it into this parking lot.  It was his task to detonate the bomb.  I got into the vehicle and waited for him to get in.
	When he got into my vehicle, we drove on.  We stopped at the traffic light, the second traffic light was red and when we stopped there, the bomb exploded and from there, I went back to Koesterfontein.

MS VAN DER WALT: What did you do at Koesterfontein?

JAN B DE WET: At Koesterfontein, I had to report back to Barnard then, Barnard and Koekemoer.  When we arrived there, I cannot remember, I do not think that there was anybody else, they were not there.
	From there, we went to the game farm.  At the game farm, we found them where they were all together.

MS VAN DER WALT: The following day, that is now the Tuesday, the 26th of April, where did you go then?

JAN B DE WET: That evening, when we saw over the news some of the pipe bomb missions haven't returned yet, and they said we have to move from our position.  General Nico and Leon van der Merwe said or asked me if I knew where the shooting range in Rustenburg was and I said yes, I knew.
	They said that we will meet there together, the next morning.  The Tuesday morning very early, when we got up, the pipe bomb mission from Pretoria had not returned yet and through General Nico Prinsloo and I was given a task to drive in front because it was a red vehicle, because I saw on the news that there was a red vehicle at the Germiston bombing.

MS VAN DER WALT: Why did you have to drive in front?

JAN B DE WET: They were afraid that if I drive with the convoy, that they would identify my vehicle.

MS VAN DER WALT: At the shooting range, did you receive any instructions there?

JAN B DE WET: At the shooting range, when we arrived there, we were the first to arrive, but an hour later, a convoy arrived systematically which Nico Prinsloo and Leon called me and they told me that I must remove the tow bar from my vehicle.  I asked them why, it is a red vehicle.
	They said if there is not a tow bar, it would not be so obvious or suspicious.

MS VAN DER WALT: So as I understand your evidence correct, Nico Prinsloo and Leon van der Merwe, did know about the mission you were on?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, that is correct.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you talk about this with them?

JAN B DE WET: No, I did not discuss it with them, but they did know about it.

MS VAN DER WALT: At the shooting range, evidence was already given to this Committee, certain people that was Tuesday evening, the 26th of April, went to their wives where they lived or stayed at your farm?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, that is correct.

MS VAN DER WALT: Did you go with?