TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 3

Chapter 6

Subsection 24

P re-election bombing campaigns

September 1993–February 1994

277. AWB member Mr Nicolaas Willem de Jongh [AM3375/96] was granted amnesty for two bomb attacks in the Eastern Cape during August 1993.

278. De Jongh, who held the rank of Commandant in the AWB, assisted two other members of that organisation to bomb two premises. The first bombing took place during the night of 13 August 1993 at the premises of Mr Wiseman Zitembile Sana in Queenstown; the second occurred on the night of 14 August 1993 at the premises of Mr Johnson Dumile Sateni in Hofmeyr in the Eastern Cape. The bombings caused damage to both properties but did not result in any bodily injury. The Committee found that both bombings were executed in support of the AWB with a political objective associated with the conflicts of the past. Amnesty was granted [AC/1998/0029].

279. An AWB colonel, MrJan Cornelius Labuschagne [AM3671/96], claimed responsibility for a series of explosions he carried out with other members: Mr Daniel Wilhelm van der Watt [AM3674/96], Mr Andries Stefanus Kriel [AM2893/96] and Mr Johannes Jacobus Botes [AM3672/96] between September 1993 and February 1994. They placed more than twenty explosive devices on railway tracks, power stations and in black townships to disrupt the infrastructure and gain publicity for the right wing’s anti-election cause. A number of people were injured .

280. In October 1993, Andries Stefanus Kriel, a brigadier in the AWB and deputy leader of the Volksfront in the Northern Free State, instructed AWB Colonel Jan Cornelius Labuschagne to form a cell of operatives in order to participate in a terror campaign to be conducted by the Volksfront.

281. Labuschagne formed a cell consisting of himself, Johannes Jacobus Roos Botes and Daniel Wilhelm van der Watt, both members of the AWB and the Volksfront. They underwent a short period of training in the manufacture, handling and use of explosives in the Bothaville area .

282. The bombing campaign commenced on 9 November 1993 and lasted until 7 February 1994. During that period they placed twenty-one bombs at different targets, including Welkom, Wesselbron, Potchefstroom, Orkney, Viljoenskroon, Hoopstad, Bothaville, Stilfontein, Kroonstad, Leeudoringstad and Vierfontein. Nineteen of these exploded. The other two (at Welkom and at Leeudoringstad) did not detonate. All the bombs were homemade. Eleven of the targets were railway lines, three were power installations, four were black residential areas , two were business premises and one was a farm school.

283. Nobody was killed in the bombings. However, a number of people were injured, including Mrs M Bayo, Mr Seipata Mokadatlo (both at Wesselsbron), Mr Stephen Semelo, Mr Andries Semelo, Mrs Ramorakane and Ms Margaret Malinga (all at Viljoenskroon). The bombings caused damage to both private and state property.

284. Labuschagne told the Committee it was not their intention to kill or injure people, although they realised that people might be killed or injured by their actions. He said they took steps to minimise the prospect of this by setting the bombs to explode late at night.

285. All the applicants were facing charges relating to their training, all the bombings as well at the illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Their trial had been postponed pending the outcome of their applications.

286. Labuschagne accepted equal responsibility with the other applicants for all the incidents on the basis that he was their leader and had given them the instruc- tions to carry out the bombing campaign. All the applicants ceased being members of the AWB during the course of the bombing campaign, but continued with the campaign as members of the Volks front .

287. The Committee was satisfied that the applicants acted at all relevant times in furtherance of the policies of the Volk s f ront and that the offences committed by them were acts associated with a political objective committed during the course of the conflicts of the past. There was nothing to suggest that the applicants committed the offences for personal gain or out personal malice, ill-will or spite directed against their victims. Satisfied that the applicants had made full disclosure of all relevant facts and that their applications complied with the requirements of the Act, they were all granted amnesty in respect of the incidents for which they each made application [AC/1999/0001].

21 April 1994

288. On 21 April 1994, the office of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in Hoopstad was bombed, causing considerable damage. Freedom Front (FF) and BKA member Mr Eduard Pieter Roux [AM 5661/97] was granted amnesty for the attack. Roux was also convicted of sabotaging power installations. There was no loss of life [AC/1998/0097].