Amnesty Hearings — Boksburg — 1998-06-22

MS VAN DER WALT: And what was the view of the AWB as it is set out in this specific book with regards to guerrilla warfare?

JAN B DE WET: It was said that the AWB associates himself with that and that these actions would meet their approval.
	I also received training in order to do these things.

MS VAN DER WALT: What do you understand when we talk about guerrilla warfare?

JAN B DE WET: Guerrilla warfare implies, if you look at the border, we went from South Africa to Angola.  For us it was no longer a border war, but a city war, so I was stationed at a place and I go from there, and I make war and I return where I received my protection.

MS VAN DER WALT: And you do this in small groups?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, we do it in small groups.

MS VAN DER WALT: You mentioned that the BKA, "Boere Krisis Aksie" took responsibility for the bomb in Bree Street, is that correct?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct.

MS VAN DER WALT: Were you present on the game farm when certain people from Natal arrived and Johan Smit welcomed them?

JAN B DE WET: I was not present when they arrived there, I think when they arrived I was busy with my mission to Germiston.

MS VAN DER WALT: During your trial in the High Court in Johannesburg, you gave evidence that Johan Smit told the Natalians that the BKA took responsibility for the bomb.  Can you remember that evidence?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, I can.

MS VAN DER WALT: Mr De Wet, you gave evidence in your trial, is that correct?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct Chairperson.

MS VAN DER WALT: Were you speaking the truth?

JAN B DE WET: No Chairperson, in the Supreme Court of South Africa I lied.  The reason I lied, was to prove my innocence in that matter.

MS VAN DER WALT: When you left on the day of the election, were you on the run?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: You are accused?

JAN B DE WET: I beg your pardon?

CHAIRPERSON: You are guilty?

JAN B DE WET: Yes, I am.

CHAIRPERSON: I am not talking about the findings, but in reality are you guilty?

JAN B DE WET: In reality I am guilty.

CHAIRPERSON: How did you want to prove your innocence?

JAN B DE WET: By telling certain lies and getting witnesses to come and say that I wasn't involved.

MS VAN DER WALT: Mr De Wet, you are now applying for amnesty for all the explosions, why?  You were not involved in all the explosions?

JAN B DE WET: Chairperson, I apply because I was involved with a group of people who were involved in a revolution and who went out to commit acts of terror in order to stop the elections and to create chaos.
	That is why I am applying for amnesty, I associate myself with them and I was part of the group of people who did that.

MS VAN DER WALT: And you also took the pipe bombs to the game farm, and you knew these missions were going to take place?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct.

MS VAN DER WALT: When you left the shooting range the Tuesday, did you know that other bombs were going out?

JAN B DE WET: Chairperson, we were told that the war would take place until we have reached our ideal, which is the Volkstaat, so I accepted that there would be further bomb explosions and also that we were going to commit ourselves to an armed struggle.

MS VAN DER WALT: Once you started running, did you learn about the explosion at the Jan Smuts airport?

JAN B DE WET: The morning when we were at the Head Office of the AWB, Mr Terreblanche said that there was a report on the radio that a bomb exploded at Jan Smuts.

MS VAN DER WALT: What did you think then?

JAN B DE WET: I suspected that it was the people who were at the shooting range, it was one of their missions.

UNKNOWN: Eugene Terreblanche said a bomb had exploded, or one of your bombs, as in associating himself with the action, can you just clarify that?

JAN B DE WET: Mr Chairperson, Mr Terreblanche said a bomb exploded at Jan Smuts.  He did not say that it was a bomb that we were involved in.
	He only said a bomb exploded.

MR MALAN: Can I just follow up on that, when he said a bomb, you said that you suspected, but did you not in reality know that it was one of your bombs?

JAN B DE WET: Chairperson, at that stage I was not at the shooting range to know that it was a bomb that we made there.  The only bomb that I was certain about, was the Germiston bomb, because I saw that it was built.

MR MALAN: But did you suspect that it was one of the bombs from your unit, or did you suspect that it was an AWB bomb?

JAN B DE WET: I suspected that it was the unit that we were involved, that it was them who created the bomb explosion because that was the only bomb explosions at that time, it was coming from our group.

MR MALAN: Thank you.

UNKNOWN: And did you actually discuss this with Mr Terreblanche, did you say to him, oh yes, that is one of ours?  Did you, yourself then identify with that and say oh, that must be one of ours because you were feeling good about this, all these terrorist acts of yours because of your objective, whatever that might have been?

JAN B DE WET: Mr Chairman, I did not discuss this with Mr Terreblanche, because the problem was that people were arrested because of these bomb explosions, and we wanted to get back as quick as possible to the shooting range, to report to them and tell them that people are being arrested because of the bomb explosions.

UNKNOWN: But as one of Mr Terreblanche's former bodyguards, you were quite close to him, it is the type of thing you would normally have discussed with him?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct Mr Chairperson, but at that stage I did not, because of the people being arrested and we wanted to get to the shooting range as soon as possible.

CHAIRPERSON: Why did you suspect that it was one of your bombs?

JAN B DE WET: Mr Chairperson, at that stage we were told, this is when I was at Brigadier Leon van der Merwe's house, that the people as they were moving up to the Volkstaat, there would be more bomb explosions in the Free State, Cape Province and Natal and that up until that point, none of those bomb explosions or any chaos which would have been spread, none of that took place and that is why I accepted that the explosion at Jan Smuts was part of the group that we were involved with.

CHAIRPERSON: Which group was this?

JAN B DE WET: Us who were at the game farm and then moved to the shooting range.  The Ystergarde, we weren't only Ystergarde members, there were also Natalians and in reality they came from the AWB's Wenkommando.

CHAIRPERSON: So the group you are referring to, is the AWB group?

JAN B DE WET: Let's call it the AWB group because the Ystergarde and the Natalians were part of that.

CHAIRPERSON: Up until that point, this group the AWB group, did not claim responsibility for any bomb, is that not so?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: Every time when somebody takes responsibility for a bomb, it was taken by one of the splinter groups?

JAN B DE WET: That is correct Chairperson.

CHAIRPERSON: In the light thereof, why did you suspect that the bomb to which Mr Terreblanche referred to as a bomb, was maybe that it was coming from the AWB's side?

JAN B DE WET: It was my personal opinion at that stage Chairperson, I accepted and assumed that the bomb which exploded at Jan Smuts, came from our group which was gathered together.

CHAIRPERSON: But why?

JAN B DE WET: Because all the bomb explosions up until that point, came from us.

CHAIRPERSON: That is the point I am trying to make and this is what is bothering me, at that stage it was always a splinter group which took responsibility, not the AWB?

JAN B DE WET: That is how I accepted it at that stage Chairperson.

ADV BOSMAN: Mr de Wet, it is not quite clear to me what you mean with a splinter group, you yourself said you didn't know what word to use.
	Can you not explain to us what you regard as a splinter group?