Person of interest: Apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock to testify at Cradock Four inquest

News24

22-06-2025

During a case management meeting for the Cradock Four inquest in May, several interested parties allegedly told the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) that they considered apartheid assassin Eugene de Kock to be a person of interest.
Claims were made that De Kock assisted by providing advice to disguise the murder weapon used in the Cradock Four murders and that he allegedly said the 1989 Motherwell bombing was, in part, to terminate people who could shed light on the murders.
This information is contained in an affidavit by De Kock's attorney, filed in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria as part of his litigation against police to secure legal funding as he is due to testify at the Cradock Four inquest.
In May, the court ordered that the police fund his legal representation for the inquest, after they had dismissed his request twice.
The inquest will investigate who should be held responsible for the deaths of anti-apartheid activists Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, who were abducted and murdered by security police in June 1985 in the Eastern Cape.
According to the confirmatory affidavit, De Kock's attorney said the case management meeting in which parties said they considered De Kock to be an 'implied person' was held on 7 May.
'Specific reference was made that after the murders of the Cradock Four, Col de Kock assisted by providing advice to disguise a murder weapon and that further reference was made to the Motherwell bombing, in that Col de Kock declared that part of the reason of the Motherwell bombing was to terminate persons that could shed light on the Cradock Four murders,' the affidavit reads.
The Motherwell bombing refers to the murders of three police officers and a police informant in Motherwell, Eastern Cape, on 14 December 1989. The South African Press Association reported that De Kock was forced to take part in the bombing to ensure that he could not testify against his superiors.
The affidavit further stated that the Cradock Four's families' legal representatives requested that De Kock be put on the list of persons of interest.
In De Kock's affidavits that formed part of the litigation against the police's decisions to refuse him legal funding for the inquest, there were arguments about whether he was considered a witness or suspect at the inquest.
When police refused De Kock's first application for funding, they said it was because he exceeded his powers as they laboured under the averment that he was a suspect.
This was also after he was told he was a suspect by a state attorney. Police said this was a factual inaccuracy.
In an email giving feedback on the case management meeting, a prosecutor stated that the NPA considered De Kock an essential witness because he had received amnesty for his role in the matter.
'Although he can, therefore, not be prosecuted on the offence for which he had been granted amnesty, [he] could still be considered a person of interest for the role he played in covering up the matter,' the email reads.
'History and infamy'
De Kock – who was dubbed 'Prime Evil' for his role as the commander of a notorious Vlakplaas death squad that carried out the torture and executions of people fighting against the apartheid regime – said he was not involved in the murder or planning of the murder of the Cradock Four, which he documented in his amnesty application before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
In 1999, De Kock was granted amnesty in respect of defeating the ends of justice related to the Cradock Four murders.
While De Kock reportedly knew about the killings, he was not personally responsible for them, according to the Foundation for Human Rights.
Despite this, De Kock, in an affidavit, said it was 'possible and highly probable that individuals can fabricate versions to implicate me, in order to 'save themselves''.
'It is also possible and probable that individuals can fabricate versions to implicate me as a result of my history and infamy,' De Kock added.
There have been two previous inquests into the murders of the Cradock Four, both of which made no findings against De Kock. He had also not been called to give evidence in the previous inquests.
De Kock was paroled in 2015 after spending two decades in prison for his crimes, including murder, which he did not receive amnesty for at the TRC.