- Eugene de Kock appeared before the TRC cases inquiry and claimed he was made a scapegoat for apartheid-era atrocities
- De Kock called for FW de Klerk's Nobel Peace Prize to be revoked, alleging the former president ordered killings
- The convicted former Vlakplaas commander questioned why senior apartheid figures were never prosecuted alongside him
Source: Getty Images
SOUTH AFRICA — Convicted apartheid-era police colonel Eugene de Kock has told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases inquiry that he was singled out as a scapegoat while other senior figures who ordered and facilitated the same atrocities were never held accountable.
Testifying on Monday, de Kock directed sharp criticism at former State President FW de Klerk, demanding that the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to De Klerk be stripped from him.
De Kock's claims against FW de Klerk
De Kock boldly stated that FW de Klerk did not deserve a Nobel Peace Prize as he had 'blood on his hands,' as he was the one who gave the orders to General Meiring for the killings.
"He said he doesn't have blood on his hands... but he's up to his elbows in the blood of children, that his Nobel Prize must be retracted," De Kock said
He also questioned who pardoned de Klerk, General Meiring and all the other shooters.
"Everything is just covered up," he said.
He further told the inquiry that numerous senior officials should have faced criminal charges alongside him and that he would have been willing to testify against them.
"The people who arranged the murders at right next to Ackerman in my court case, and I'm prosecuted for that murder, and I'm found guilty while the very persons who organised the murder and facilitated it were sitting next to Ackerman," he said.
View video of de Kock speaking posted on X here:
Who is Eugene de Kock?
De Kock commanded the C10 counter-insurgency unit based at Vlakplaas, a farm situated west of Pretoria that became a symbol of state-sponsored brutality during the apartheid era. The unit was responsible for the kidnapping, torture and extrajudicial killing of anti-apartheid activists, and De Kock oversaw many of those operations personally.
He joined the South African Police in 1968 and moved into counter-insurgency work in 1983. His role earned him the notorious nickname "Prime Evil."
Following South Africa's transition to democracy, de Kock was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to two life terms plus 212 years in prison. He was released on parole in 2015 after serving 19 years behind bars.
de Kock sayd Ramaphosa was on the hit list
Previously, Briefly News former apartheid police commander Eugene de Kock testified that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s name was on a list of people he was ordered to kill. De Kock made the admission before the High Court in Gqeberha, where he was testifying at the reopened inquest into the Cradock Four murders. The inquest is looking into the deaths of Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, Sicelo Mhlauli and Fort Calata, who were abducted and killed in 1985 by the South African government’s Security Branch and members of the notorious Vlakplaas death squad.
Source: Briefly News
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