WATCH | Emotions run high as ‘Prime Evil’ faces scrutiny in court

More than 11 years after his last public appearance, Eugene de Kock — the apartheid-era Vlakplaas death squad commander infamously known as “Prime Evil” — appeared in the Gqeberha high court on Monday under heavy police guard. The families of the lateCradock Four— Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli — watched tensely as the man once responsible for orchestrating kidnappings, torture and assassinations under the apartheid state faced scrutiny once more. Implicated as a person of interest in the notorious 1985 murders, De Kock denied direct involvement, claiming his only role had been to change the barrel of a firearm to tamper with ballistics.

De Kock’s courtroom return for the Cradock Four inquest reopened the dark chapters he laid bare during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, where he confessed to numerous atrocities. However, together with others, he was granted amnesty for the killings and abductions of ANC and PAC members in Swaziland, Botswana and SA. Testifying in a packed courtroom on Monday, De Kock, who appeared agitated by the constant objections from the representatives of apartheid state ministers, would at times lash out with emotional responses.

After his affidavit was read out by his lawyer, Juan Schoeman, De Kock said the instruction to bomb Cosatu House in Johannesburg in 1987 had come from his senior, head of counterintelligence, Brigadier Willem Skoon. He said late apartheid president PW Botha was aware of this. When a member of the legal team representing the apartheid state ministers interjected to question the relevance of implicating others, De Kock blurted out: “Let’s get the truth out.

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Let’s not hide the truth.” De Kock went on to allege that former police general Krappies Engelbrecht was tasked to clean up the evidence of the Cradock Four murders. When further objections were heard, De Kock pointed a finger directly to the defence lawyers and said “… if [you] thought Botha and the ministers did not know about it, [you are] mistaken”.

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