KwaNdebele Nine were 'shot, then set alight'

PRETORIA -- Former police special investigating unit member Stephanus Oosthuizen admitted yesterday he was one of the men who killed nine Mamelodi activists in the former KwaNdebele in 1986.

He told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty committee here that he, Deon Gouws -- who was a former member of the same unit -- and askari Joe Mamasela shot the nine at a house in Vlaklaagte in June that year.

Oosthuizen and Gouws are applying for amnesty for their role in the killing of the "KwaNdebele Nine".

Oosthuizen, a warrant officer at the time, said the men were brought to Vlaklaagte by Mamasela, who told them they were to receive a crash course in handling AK-47 assault rifles.

On the day of the killing, Mamasela first entered a room where the activists were standing in a line waiting for their training. Gouws went in next, followed by Oosthuizen.

The men were shot with AK-47s.

Oosthuizen said he, Gouws and Mamasela ran out of the room after the shooting.

Either Gouws or former security policeman Captain Jacques Hechter then poured petrol over the bodies and set them alight, Oosthuizen told the hearing.

Family members of the victims started crying at Oosthuizen's testimony that the victims' bodies were burnt.

Oosthuizen said the activists were targeted because they were planning to go abroad for military training.

Gouws told the hearing he had set the activists' bodies alight after Hechter had poured petrol over them.

Hechter, who has already been granted amnesty for his part in the incident, testified during his amnesty application that he did not pour petrol over the bodies.

However, former security police captain, Jacob van Jaarsveld, said Hechter had told him the day after the shooting that he had doused the bodies in petrol.

Mamasela has not applied for amnesty for the incident.

He was granted indemnity from prosecution in return for helping the then attorney-general track down former security police involved in human rights abuses. -- Sapa