Latest news with #SpecialOperationsUnit
IOL News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
‘Rockets streaking through the night sky'
Former ANC Member of Parliament Yunus Carrim narrates the untold stories of the ANC's MK Special Operations Unit. Image: Supplied Blurb: For over three decades, the remarkable story of Umkhonto we Sizwe's Special Operations Unit has remained largely untold. Formed under the direct command of ANC president Oliver Tambo and senior ANC and SACP leader Joe Slovo, this elite unit executed some of the most daring and high-profile attacks against the apartheid state in the 1980s. In this groundbreaking book by ANC and SACP activist Yunus Carrim, the history of Special Ops is brought to life through the voices of its surviving participants. This is an account of the unit's daring attack on the SADF's militray fortress Voortrekkerhoogte. Between 22:30 and 23:00 on 12 August 1981, five 122-mm rockets from a Grad-P rocket launcher, used for the first time in South Africa, hit Voortrekkerhoogte, the main SADF base in the heart of Pretoria. The blasts were heard all over the city's southern and eastern suburbs. A resident described the loud noise as 'a grinding sound, like the sliding door of a panel van being opened'. He rushed outside to see rockets 'streaking through the night sky'. Zora Ahli saw 'four streaks of flame, one after the other, rising from open ground to the west, flashing right over her house moving eastwards. She likened the phenomenon to four shooting stars.' It's not clear exactly what was hit. A rocket certainly hit the house of a domestic worker. The other rockets hit a pillar of the military college, an ablution block, an open field, and one or two houses. One rocket seems to have failed to explode. Another cut through the corrugated-iron walls of a garage, went through a storeroom, passed between the storeroom and the domestic worker's room, struck the ground, and detonated. The force of the blast dislodged the roof of the room, burst the windows and toppled furniture. 'All I could see was fire … I just heard 'bam' and saw fire all over my room,' said Elsie Sekanka, the domestic worker. She scrambled out of the burning room and climbed through a broken window. The army was taken completely by surprise. They mounted a massive search for the perpetrators. They erected roadblocks throughout the Transvaal and searched cars and people. Entrances to Atteridgeville and Saulsville were blocked, and Soweto was cordoned off. Police in camouflage uniforms boarded the morning trains and searched commuters. Commissioner General Johann Coetzee said that the attack was 'a significant event because it had a psychological effect on the government by striking at the heart of its military forces'. The regime retaliated by bombing the ANC office in London The attack took place during the twentieth anniversary celebrations of South Africa becoming a republic. Coincidentally, it was also Budget Day, but the Voortrekkerhoogte attack overshadowed this. The operation was carried out by the ANC's Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Special Operations Unit. The operational commander of the attack was Barney Molokoane, and the others in the unit were Johannes Mnisi, Johnny Mashigo, Vincent Sekete and Velaphi Mbele. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading Getting their ducks in a row Secluded among blue gum trees in Erasmia, a white area of Pretoria, was a smallholding, 'Mooiplaas', with a five-roomed farmhouse. It was about 600 metres from the police station. In June 1981, Nicholas Heath and Bonnie Muller, a British couple, rented Mooiplaas for R500 a year from Gerhard Basson. They said they were married and wanted to relax in South Africa as Heath recovered from ill health. But they were not married. Nor was Heath ill. Joe Slovo had recruited them. They were in South Africa to create a base for the cadres who were to attack Voortrekkerhoogte. Getting the Grad-P into the country was challenging. It was very difficult to create hidden compartments in a Ford bakkie, into which the Grad-P could fit. The barrel of a Grad-P is 2.54 metres long. The tripod mount weighs 27.7 kilograms, and the rocket weighs between 45.8 and 46.3 kilograms. 'What was remarkable about this operation was the difficulties we had packing the weapons in,' says Aboobaker Ismail (MK name Rashid). 'When I did the calculations, I didn't count the bits that were sticking out, so every time I modelled it – and I had built little models – I was somewhat out.' A metal frame was welded under the vehicle. The rocket launcher was mounted on a tripod under it with two rockets in the barrel, taking the weight to well over 100 kilograms. At the border, on returning to the bakkie after processing their passports, Muller and Heath found that it just wouldn't start. So, the distraught and nervous couple tried to push it. And the border guards very helpfully joined in! The bakkie got going again to their considerable relief. They were let through the border gates without the bakkie being checked. They waved a friendly bye-bye to the guards and went off again to ensure Voortrekkerhoogte was attacked. 'I mean, of all the things that can go wrong!' says Rashid laughingly. 'How many things are you meant to think of beforehand! All our meticulous planning – then this …' Into action Heath and Muller stocked Mooiplaas with food and other essentials for the five cadres to be based there. A few days later, Molokoane joined them. He posed as a gardener. Heath and Muller left the country. Shortly after 20:00 on 8 August 1981, the others crossed the Swaziland border. The cadres behaved as if they were labourers, in case anybody saw them. Philemon Malefo, Mnisi's friend, had a Ranchero bakkie. This was used to get the equipment to the firing point, about 4.5 kilometres from Voortrekkerhoogte. They got there at about 22:00 on 12 August. Shortly after 22:30, Molokoane fired the first rocket, which had 43 kilograms of high explosives. There was a huge roar. People in Laudium and Erasmia came out of their houses. Most presumed it was an SADF drill and watched with interest. With the crowd gathering, it 'was like being in FNB stadium,' Mnisi told journalist Esther Waugh later. A few people even leaned on the Ranchero as they watched. The cadres continued to fire rockets. Malefo got anxious about people being in his bakkie. He was also worried that somebody might take down the registration number and he'd be traced. So, he left in a hurry. Evading capture The cadres packed up the equipment quickly. But the getaway bakkie had disappeared. And roadblocks were being set up. Mnisi went to Malefo's place while Molokoane and the rest of the unit went back to Mooiplaas. The cadres bolted themselves in the farmhouse, closed the windows, drew the curtains and set up their defences. They put up mattresses and moved furniture around. They took positions around the windows and waited for an attack. They were in trouble but decided they'd fight to the death. For three days, security forces with tracker dogs and helicopters searched the area. Sometimes the cadres could hear the murmur of voices and the barking of dogs. The search party came right to the gate of Mooiplaas but, amazingly, decided that there was no one there. When the roadblocks eased, they left for Swaziland around 30 August. Malefo crossed at the Oshoek border legally in the Ranchero, while the others jumped over the fence and joined him on the Swaziland side. The following day, the cadres climbed over the Swaziland–Mozambique fence. It was about three weeks after the attack that the cadres returned to Maputo. 'I cannot describe the euphoria. Amazingly, everybody survived,' says Rashid. Slovo was thrilled. Oliver Tambo came to thank them for pulling the operation off. Significance beyond material damage 'We recognised that we could not take on the SADF in a full confrontational operation,' said Rashid. 'It would be suicidal – and we were never into suicide operations. We wanted the psychological impact of hitting it. That, here we are, taking on the enemy in its heart, in its biggest military base, so we left people under no illusion that we had the capability. The Boers didn't ever, in their wildest imagination, believe that we would have struck Voortrekkerhoogte. 'On the one hand, the police are saying, look at how useless they were; they didn't hit any significant targets. On the other hand, the people celebrated because here was the glorious MK taking on the Boers and hitting Voortrekkerhoogte right in the heart of the military machine. And what do you think the reaction was in the camps? Positive. If we're already hitting Voortrekkerhoogte, we're going home tomorrow – that's how they felt. They said we're sure the commanders will come to call us all to go to the front. And they all want to join Special Ops. 'The Boers were in a dilemma. On the one hand, they wanted to say what a big threat the ANC was, and on the other hand, they wanted to show how useless the ANC was. But now they had to deal with that question. Which is it? 'Maybe Voortrekkerhoogte portrayed MK as bigger than it was, as much more competent than we were. ' That it was attacked at all was very important. That a Grad-P was used from four and a half kilometres away added to its significance. That the cadres were able to get away safely despite a massive police search reinforced its significance. Whatever its limits, the attack showed that the SADF was not invincible. If the physical damage was little, the psychological impact was huge. Voortrekkerhoogte, after all, was the 'front garden' of the Defence Force. The ANC considered the attack to be 'a psychological landmark', noted Waugh in an article headlined 'Umkhonto's cheeky blow at the military core of apartheid'. It was the first direct attack on an army base. And it came shortly after the major Sasol and power stations operations. So, strategic sites of the apartheid regime – fuel, electricity and the military – were all hit within about fifteen months, signalling a new phase in the armed struggle. As armed propaganda, the goal was significantly achieved. And the attack on Voortrekkerhoogte became etched in the ANC's military history and an important part of its political capital, and it served to inspire many in the camps and outside to actively engage in the armed and broader political struggles. * The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
IOL News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
‘Rockets streaking through the night sky'
Former ANC Member of Parliament Yunus Carrim narrates the untold stories of the ANC's MK Special Operations Unit. Image: Supplied Blurb: For over three decades, the remarkable story of Umkhonto we Sizwe's Special Operations Unit has remained largely untold. Formed under the direct command of ANC president Oliver Tambo and senior ANC and SACP leader Joe Slovo, this elite unit executed some of the most daring and high-profile attacks against the apartheid state in the 1980s. In this groundbreaking book by ANC and SACP activist Yunus Carrim, the history of Special Ops is brought to life through the voices of its surviving participants. This is an account of the unit's daring attack on the SADF's militray fortress Voortrekkerhoogte. Between 22:30 and 23:00 on 12 August 1981, five 122-mm rockets from a Grad-P rocket launcher, used for the first time in South Africa, hit Voortrekkerhoogte, the main SADF base in the heart of Pretoria. The blasts were heard all over the city's southern and eastern suburbs. A resident described the loud noise as 'a grinding sound, like the sliding door of a panel van being opened'. He rushed outside to see rockets 'streaking through the night sky'. Zora Ahli saw 'four streaks of flame, one after the other, rising from open ground to the west, flashing right over her house moving eastwards. She likened the phenomenon to four shooting stars.' It's not clear exactly what was hit. A rocket certainly hit the house of a domestic worker. The other rockets hit a pillar of the military college, an ablution block, an open field, and one or two houses. One rocket seems to have failed to explode. Another cut through the corrugated-iron walls of a garage, went through a storeroom, passed between the storeroom and the domestic worker's room, struck the ground, and detonated. The force of the blast dislodged the roof of the room, burst the windows and toppled furniture. 'All I could see was fire … I just heard 'bam' and saw fire all over my room,' said Elsie Sekanka, the domestic worker. She scrambled out of the burning room and climbed through a broken window. The army was taken completely by surprise. They mounted a massive search for the perpetrators. They erected roadblocks throughout the Transvaal and searched cars and people. Entrances to Atteridgeville and Saulsville were blocked, and Soweto was cordoned off. Police in camouflage uniforms boarded the morning trains and searched commuters. Commissioner General Johann Coetzee said that the attack was 'a significant event because it had a psychological effect on the government by striking at the heart of its military forces'. The regime retaliated by bombing the ANC office in London The attack took place during the twentieth anniversary celebrations of South Africa becoming a republic. Coincidentally, it was also Budget Day, but the Voortrekkerhoogte attack overshadowed this. The operation was carried out by the ANC's Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Special Operations Unit. The operational commander of the attack was Barney Molokoane, and the others in the unit were Johannes Mnisi, Johnny Mashigo, Vincent Sekete and Velaphi Mbele. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Getting their ducks in a row Secluded among blue gum trees in Erasmia, a white area of Pretoria, was a smallholding, 'Mooiplaas', with a five-roomed farmhouse. It was about 600 metres from the police station. In June 1981, Nicholas Heath and Bonnie Muller, a British couple, rented Mooiplaas for R500 a year from Gerhard Basson. They said they were married and wanted to relax in South Africa as Heath recovered from ill health. But they were not married. Nor was Heath ill. Joe Slovo had recruited them. They were in South Africa to create a base for the cadres who were to attack Voortrekkerhoogte. Getting the Grad-P into the country was challenging. It was very difficult to create hidden compartments in a Ford bakkie, into which the Grad-P could fit. The barrel of a Grad-P is 2.54 metres long. The tripod mount weighs 27.7 kilograms, and the rocket weighs between 45.8 and 46.3 kilograms. 'What was remarkable about this operation was the difficulties we had packing the weapons in,' says Aboobaker Ismail (MK name Rashid). 'When I did the calculations, I didn't count the bits that were sticking out, so every time I modelled it – and I had built little models – I was somewhat out.' A metal frame was welded under the vehicle. The rocket launcher was mounted on a tripod under it with two rockets in the barrel, taking the weight to well over 100 kilograms. At the border, on returning to the bakkie after processing their passports, Muller and Heath found that it just wouldn't start. So, the distraught and nervous couple tried to push it. And the border guards very helpfully joined in! The bakkie got going again to their considerable relief. They were let through the border gates without the bakkie being checked. They waved a friendly bye-bye to the guards and went off again to ensure Voortrekkerhoogte was attacked. 'I mean, of all the things that can go wrong!' says Rashid laughingly. 'How many things are you meant to think of beforehand! All our meticulous planning – then this …' Into action Heath and Muller stocked Mooiplaas with food and other essentials for the five cadres to be based there. A few days later, Molokoane joined them. He posed as a gardener. Heath and Muller left the country. Shortly after 20:00 on 8 August 1981, the others crossed the Swaziland border. The cadres behaved as if they were labourers, in case anybody saw them. Philemon Malefo, Mnisi's friend, had a Ranchero bakkie. This was used to get the equipment to the firing point, about 4.5 kilometres from Voortrekkerhoogte. They got there at about 22:00 on 12 August. Shortly after 22:30, Molokoane fired the first rocket, which had 43 kilograms of high explosives. There was a huge roar. People in Laudium and Erasmia came out of their houses. Most presumed it was an SADF drill and watched with interest. With the crowd gathering, it 'was like being in FNB stadium,' Mnisi told journalist Esther Waugh later. A few people even leaned on the Ranchero as they watched. The cadres continued to fire rockets. Malefo got anxious about people being in his bakkie. He was also worried that somebody might take down the registration number and he'd be traced. So, he left in a hurry. Evading capture The cadres packed up the equipment quickly. But the getaway bakkie had disappeared. And roadblocks were being set up. Mnisi went to Malefo's place while Molokoane and the rest of the unit went back to Mooiplaas. The cadres bolted themselves in the farmhouse, closed the windows, drew the curtains and set up their defences. They put up mattresses and moved furniture around. They took positions around the windows and waited for an attack. They were in trouble but decided they'd fight to the death. For three days, security forces with tracker dogs and helicopters searched the area. Sometimes the cadres could hear the murmur of voices and the barking of dogs. The search party came right to the gate of Mooiplaas but, amazingly, decided that there was no one there. When the roadblocks eased, they left for Swaziland around 30 August. Malefo crossed at the Oshoek border legally in the Ranchero, while the others jumped over the fence and joined him on the Swaziland side. The following day, the cadres climbed over the Swaziland–Mozambique fence. It was about three weeks after the attack that the cadres returned to Maputo. 'I cannot describe the euphoria. Amazingly, everybody survived,' says Rashid. Slovo was thrilled. Oliver Tambo came to thank them for pulling the operation off. Significance beyond material damage 'We recognised that we could not take on the SADF in a full confrontational operation,' said Rashid. 'It would be suicidal – and we were never into suicide operations. We wanted the psychological impact of hitting it. That, here we are, taking on the enemy in its heart, in its biggest military base, so we left people under no illusion that we had the capability. The Boers didn't ever, in their wildest imagination, believe that we would have struck Voortrekkerhoogte. 'On the one hand, the police are saying, look at how useless they were; they didn't hit any significant targets. On the other hand, the people celebrated because here was the glorious MK taking on the Boers and hitting Voortrekkerhoogte right in the heart of the military machine. And what do you think the reaction was in the camps? Positive. If we're already hitting Voortrekkerhoogte, we're going home tomorrow – that's how they felt. They said we're sure the commanders will come to call us all to go to the front. And they all want to join Special Ops. 'The Boers were in a dilemma. On the one hand, they wanted to say what a big threat the ANC was, and on the other hand, they wanted to show how useless the ANC was. But now they had to deal with that question. Which is it? 'Maybe Voortrekkerhoogte portrayed MK as bigger than it was, as much more competent than we were. ' That it was attacked at all was very important. That a Grad-P was used from four and a half kilometres away added to its significance. That the cadres were able to get away safely despite a massive police search reinforced its significance. Whatever its limits, the attack showed that the SADF was not invincible. If the physical damage was little, the psychological impact was huge. Voortrekkerhoogte, after all, was the 'front garden' of the Defence Force. The ANC considered the attack to be 'a psychological landmark', noted Waugh in an article headlined 'Umkhonto's cheeky blow at the military core of apartheid'. It was the first direct attack on an army base. And it came shortly after the major Sasol and power stations operations. So, strategic sites of the apartheid regime – fuel, electricity and the military – were all hit within about fifteen months, signalling a new phase in the armed struggle. As armed propaganda, the goal was significantly achieved. And the attack on Voortrekkerhoogte became etched in the ANC's military history and an important part of its political capital, and it served to inspire many in the camps and outside to actively engage in the armed and broader political struggles. * The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
ITV News
27-06-2025
- ITV News
Murder investigation launched as woman dies after car crash attack in Leicester
A murder investigation has been launched as a woman has died after an attack following a car crash. Police said it received a call that a white BMW 1 Series had overturned on Aylestone Road in Leicester, just after 5.30pm on Tuesday (24 June). The driver left the car and a female pedestrian was then attacked, police said. The woman, in her 50s, was left with life-threatening injuries and taken to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham. She died on Thursday afternoon from her injuries. A 23-year-old man was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, possession with intent to supply Class B drugs, assault of an emergency worker, dangerous driving, driving while unfit through drugs, and failing to provide a drugs or alcohol test. He has now been arrested on suspicion of murder. He is still in police custody after a warrant of further detention was granted. Detective Inspector Emma Matts, from East Midlands Special Operations Unit Murder Investigation team said: 'This woman was sadly subjected to a serious assault and was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries. Her family and close friends have remained at her bedside and tragically she died Thursday afternoon. 'Since the incident, a dedicated team of detectives have worked tirelessly pursuing all lines of enquiry to establish the full circumstances around what happened. Those enquiries will very much continue as we now move the incident to a murder investigation." Police are appealing to anyone who saw anything connected to the incident to come forward - whether it was the car being driven beforehand, the crash itself, or the attack. The crash happened on Aylstone Road in Leicester, near the traffic light junction with Welford Road and Voco hotel. A man was seen running down the middle of the road towards the Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
26 arrested, firearms and drugs seized in multi-agency operation in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ga. () — The Columbus Police Department announced today a multi-agency operation which resulted in the arrests of 26 individuals and seizure of money, various drugs and firearms. The operation was carried out by CPD's Special Operations Unit and Bureau of Patrol Services, in partnership with the Muscogee County School District Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. During the operation, the following were recovered: 25.4 grams of Fentanyl (approximate street value: $2,540) 135.3 grams of Marijuana ($1,353) 86 pills / 12.6 grams of Ecstasy ($430) 1.4 grams of Cocaine ($140) 0.3 grams of Methamphetamine ($20) $673 in cash 4 firearms one vehicle CPD says officers arrested 26 people, filed 52 charges and cleared 12 outstanding warrants. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Three arrested in Lawton for drug trafficking, gun charges
LAWTON, Okla. (KFDX/KJTL) — During a joint investigation with traffic stops and search warrants, three people were arrested last week and jailed in Lawton with several charges, including drug trafficking and gun possession. Julio Bustamante, Yaimaris Prevals Rodriguez, and Agustin Marquez were jailed in the Comanche County Detention Center. Lawton police said on Thursday, March 20, the police department's Special Operations Unit and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs seized 290 grams of powder Fentanyl, 933 grams of Methamphetamine, $34,980 in drug proceeds, two vehicles, and seven firearms. Lawton police said based on those seizures, the OBNDD's Anti-Heroin Task Force seized an additional 626 grams of Fentanyl powder, 494 grams of counterfeit prescription tablets containing Fentanyl, 883 grams of Methamphetamine, and $20,000 in drug money from a related residence in Oklahoma City. Marquez is charged with use of firearm while committing a felony, possession of a controlled substance, trafficking in Fentanyl 1 gram or more, and acquire proceeds from drug activities. Bustamante is charged with two counts of aggravated trafficking in illegal drugs and is being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer. Prevals Rodriguez is charged with two counts of aggravated trafficking in illegal drugs and use of firearm while committing a 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
