Human Rights Violation Hearings — Moutse — 1996-12-04

JACQUES HECHTER: ... Kwandebele at the time and that happened by burning down of houses and schools, consumer boycotts, school boycotts, strikes and large scale intimidation and violence and also several murders.  I assumed that Brig Cronje received an instruction that Piet Ntuli, we had to get rid of him since the aims of the ANC to destabilise Kwandebele were being promoted.  A certain Jaap van Jaarsveld said to me that Brig Cronje received the instruction from head office.  I received the instruction from Brig Cronje personally.  He contacted me and said to me this is the instruction which was received and this is the instruction which must be executed.  Capt Van Jaarsveld and I discussed this incident long after it took place and we spoke about this after the Brigadier was called to head office and thereafter the Brigadier said to me that we should make preparations for the elimination of this person.  The information at that stage, which we had, was obtained from various informants who worked for the security police and this information was that Piet was involved in various strikes and incitements and arson attempts and grievous assaults, thefts and illegal possession of firearms and also the consumer boycotts and that was why it was necessary in order for stability in the region and in order to combat the ANC's plan to destabilise the region, to get rid of Piet
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Ntuli.  And at that time there were talks for the  independence of Kwandebele.  And hence this unrest in Kwandebele, they would never have been able to obtain their independence.  According to Brig Cronje in Piet's case it was repeatedly discussed at central information level which constituted the commissioner of police back then, the head of the South African Defence Force, the head of the security branch in that area, military intelligence and national intelligence who operated in the area at the time.  Other security information which was available was discussed there and all the incidents were discussed and solutions and actions were then discussed in these meetings. I heard that decisions that were taken there were referred back to the security branch where the final decision was taken, the Council.  And it was probable that the decision to eliminate Ntuli was taken there.  Brig Daantjie van Wyk at that stage was the head of the special investigative unit into the riots that were taking place in Kwandebele at the time and then Sergeant Gouws and Warrant Officer Oosthuizen were working under him.  They were seconded by the murder and robbery unit in Pretoria.  I beg your pardon, just to give a bit more clarity, Brig Van Wyk's investigative unit was especially established in order to combat all acts of terrorism, murders, all acts - illegal acts which were taking place in Kwandebele they were to investigate because the local police had such a large volume of work the local police were used to combat the riots.  They could not do actual policing duties by investigating these crimes and hence at that stage they were involved in the investigation of all crime, whether it was committed by the comrades or Piet Ntuli and Mbokoto.  All crime was investigated by them. MOUTSE HEARING TRC/MPUMALANGA
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After I received instruction from Brig Cronje about the elimination of Piet Ntuli we decided upon a method of eliminating him. I contacted Joe Verster from the special force of the Defence Force and they designed a special bomb for me.  This bomb inter alia was to be designed in such a way that it could be mounted under Piet Ntuli's vehicle.  At that stage I had already worked with the special task force and had participated in some of their activities and these operations were probably an instruction from head office and Brig Cronje informed me that we received an instruction from head office to work with the special task force.  On this specific day, I think it was the 29th July 1986, Brig Cronje and Capt Van Jaarsveld and myself went per combi of the security branch to Siyabuswa that morning.  We hung around all day monitoring the situation and I had been to Kwandebele on a previous occasion and I knew where Piet was living and watching where the chief ministers were and getting information from our informants and from the police of which vehicle he drove and whether he was a fast driver or not, whether he was a slow driver.  I investigated his background, not his past background but his actions, his daily routine.  That night there was a meeting at the Chief Minister's house in the complex in Siyabuswa where they were residing.  That same day, a bit later in the afternoon, the brigadier and Capt Chris Kendal who was the station commander at Bronkhorstspruit at the time of the security branch, went to the Chief Minister's house.  Brig Cronje informed him that he wanted to meet the minister.  We went into the complex in his car and we stopped there.  I remained in the vehicle, seated in the vehicle with the bomb and the others got out.  Piet Ntuli's car was in front of
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the front door, opposite the street.  Brigadier went to stand by the car, Chris Kendal went into the meeting to inform the minister that the brigadier would like to meet him.  When he had entered the house I got out of the vehicle and there were also two security guards on the other side and I got under Piet Ntuli's vehicle and I would only have been able to mount it at night so that it would have remained - this bomb was designed in such a way that it would have remained stuck onto the vehicle without falling off in any way despite any driving conditions.  While lying under the vehicle mounting the bomb I saw a pair of feet coming out of the minister's house towards Piet Ntuli's vehicle.  Brigadier spoke to these men and I later established that it was the Kwandebele police and they just greeted and then they walked away.  After I had mounted the bomb I went back to Capt Kendal's vehicle and the brigadier remained standing at Piet Ntuli's vehicle.  Earlier that day we also had Warrant Officer Oosthuizen and another person who we had loaded, Gouws and Oosthuizen we loaded into the vehicle and I handed them two remote control devices because they wanted to detonate the bomb that was to kill Piet Ntuli.  In order to combat the possibility of a misfire we had two remote control devices which were provided with the bomb.  These remote control devices were designed in such a way that the bomb would be detonated in a remote area where there weren't any houses around.  The bomb was to detonate in such an area.  After I had removed the safety pin from the bomb under the vehicle the bomb was to be activated within 30 minutes thereof.  It was to detonate within 30 seconds.  After the button had been pressed we drove out to Gouws and Oosthuizen's base about 4 kilometres outside
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Siyabuswa, I think it was some camp along the way.  We just got to this place when a report was received on the police radio that the bomb had exploded.  We went back to the scene of the explosion where we found the commissioner of the Kwandebele police at that stage, I think it was a Brig Van Niekerk.  We found him at the scene as well with a whole lot of other policemen.  Brig van Wyk was also at the scene already and they had put up lights.  The whole scene had been lit up by that time.  We hung around there for a while and then got back into our vehicles and went back home.  Thereafter we heard that Gen Schutte the chief of the South African Police investigative unit had received personal instructions to investigate the incident.  He instructed Col Neethling, who was the head of the forensic division of the South African Police to get involved in this case. I was never questioned by anyone in connection with this incident although I had to submit a report of what I was doing there.  At that stage it was said by head office that where a senior officer visited any black area where there were riots he had to be accompanied by a junior member, firstly as a driver and secondly as protection.  I then submitted such a report.  So far that is what happened on the night of the 29th July.