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- Publisher
- Wiley
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2007 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
- ISSN
- 0001-9844
- eISSN
- 1467-825X
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1467-825X.2007.01217.x
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
The case re‐opens the debate on how to deal with the past. South Africa's former law and order minister Adriaan Vlok , on August 17th, became the only senior politician from the white regime convicted of apartheid‐era crimes as he pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a prominent cleric. Vlok, 70, received a ten‐year suspended prison sentence under a plea bargain by admitting he ordered the security police to kill the Reverend Frank Chikane , a leading anti‐apartheid activist, in 1989. The deal saved former cabinet colleagues a full trial and further revelations about how much South Africa's white rulers knew of atrocities, including murder, bombings and torture, that they continue to blame on rogue elements in the security forces. But under the terms of the plea bargain Vlok, in the late 1980s a hardline minister who has since admitted he passed on directives from the cabinet for the police to “eliminate” anti‐apartheid activists, is obliged to assist in any future prosecutions over crimes he knows about. The former police commissioner, Johan van der Merwe , and three other former high‐ranking police officers also pleaded guilty and received suspended prison sentences of between five and ten years.
Journal
Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley
Published: Sep 1, 2007