Trial Report: Thirty-Seven

This report covers the period Friday November 24 - Friday December 8, 2000

Friday November 24, 2000

No evidence was led, proceedings being confined to the reading into the record of affidavits by three witnesses who will not have to be called to testify, and an affidavit made by Basson. The first statement admitted by the defence was that of "Mr S" - who may not be identified or photographed in terms of a court order. Mr S is one of the former Military Intelligence pilots involved in covert operations and specifically the monthly airdrops to Renamo in Mozambique. Mr S flew for the front company, Wonder Air owned by Gert de Klerk.

Mr S said he and the other pilots working for Wonder Air flew in and out of Mozambique routinely, and Renamo president Afonso Dhlakama was a regular passenger. Around the time of Orlando Cristina's murder (April 17, 1983) Mr S "thinks" they went to fetch Dhlakama from Mozambique, and some time afterwards, his colleague, Fred Frayne told him they had to make a flight to the Caprivi. Included in his statement is reference to people he thought could have been the Christina murder suspects having been taken to the Caprivi strip. He said that after having dropped the passengers off in the afternoon he had re-fuelled and that night the bodies of five or six men were loaded into the aircraft. He had to fly out over the sea where the bodies were dumped.

The second affidavit was from pilot, Fred Frayne. Frayne's statement broadly reflects the statement made by Mr S.

Policeman Mike Holmes, attached to the East Rand Murder & Robbery Squad before joining the Attorney General's Special Investigation Team, is terminally ill, and cannot testify in person. His statement about the Cristina investigation was thus admitted. Holmes stated that he was involved in the Christina investigation and places Basson at the investigation scene.

The affidavit by Basson, made on 5 January 1994 states that he joined the SADF in 1975 and was requested by the Chief SADF and the Surgeon General in 1980 to act as project leader for establishment of an offensive and defensive chemical and biological warfare capacity for the Defence Force "and thus for the RSA". During 1982, Basson said he submitted a research and production programme to the SADF's top structure which recommended:

1. That all three categories of substances (lethal agents, incapacitants and irritants) would have to form part of "our" programme, but that the emphasis would have to be on irritants and incapacitants.
2. That specialised facilities would have to be set up under military control in order to manufacture and test the substances.

"[W]e succeeded in completing the lethal programme fairly quickly, and perfecting the production techniques."

Basson said that time and money could be saved if certain raw materials for the irritant and incapacitant programme could be obtained free of charge. To this end, Basson and the surgeon-general (Nicol Nieuwoudt) spoke to General Zietsman, SAP chief of detectives. At this meeting, approval in principle was granted for the SA Police to be approached in order to supply specific raw materials - confiscated drugs which had no further evidentiary value. These would then be used in various research projects. According to Basson, the aim was to develop the "ideal" incapacitant, a substance which would ensure predictable and consistent behaviour patterns in those exposed to it. Basson said that the full spectrum of substances which influence the brain function - either by stimulation, sedation or dissociation - were examined. The Forensic Science Laboratory of the South African Police made various narcotics, including cannabis, heroin and LSD, available to the project for research.

Basson said a formal meeting was arranged with General (Johan) Coetzee, the police commissioner and General De Witt in order to formalise the acquisition of confiscated drugs and to make a formal request that the Forensic Science Laboratory's facilities, and General Lothar Neethling's abilities, could be used to supplement the programme's technical shortcomings. The possibility of the police making use of the ideal substances during unrest and for crowd control purposes, was also discussed.

After this meeting Basson was ordered to discuss the planned new research facilities with Neethling and to hear his ideas about security and control. Various aspects of the programme were discussed with him. It appeared that the fastest short-term results could be achieved by modifying the two existing and best-known narcotics, namely cannabis and methaqualone. As far as Basson can remember, approximately nine tons of cannabis and a half-million methaqualone tablets were obtained from the Forensic Laboratory. The cannabis was used to extract the active ingredient, THC, so that the molecules could be modified in an attempt to make them more potent, as well as to see what other effects could be achieved by these molecular modifications.

The Mandrax tablets were ground up and the methaqualone extracted for the same purpose. As a result of the success achieved with the methaqualone derivatives, Delta G Scientific was instructed to produce an additional 100 kilograms of the methaqualone derivative. The instructions were the result of approval by the programme. Defence counsel, Adv Jaap Cilliers told the court that the "100 kg" was clearly a typing error, and that this should, in fact, read "1 000 kg". Prosecutor Torie Pretorius accepted the amendment, but placed on record that the State does not necessarily agree that this is a typing error.

In 1987, a formal briefing was "again" given to Minister of Defence, Magnus Malan, Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok, Commissioner of Police, General (Johan) van der Merwe, head of the National Intelligence Service, Dr (Niel) Barnard and various military officers. During this briefing, details were supplied of the completed basic research programme and the abilities that had been developed. Future liaison procedures and channels for "the different departments" were formulated at this meeting.

The trial adjourned until Thursday, November 30, to allow Basson to attend a medical conference in Cape Town. In order to maintain his status as a specialist, he is required to attend a certain number of congresses annually.

Thursday November 30, 2000

Two affidavits were admitted as part of the court record. The first is that of Wouter Jacobus Basson, aka Christo Brits, co-ordinator of the Civil Cooperation Bureau's Region 6 and cousin of the accused. He shall be referred to as Brits to avoid confusion. Brits joined the CCB in 1985/86, when it was taking over from Operation Barnacle. He was appointed co-ordinator of Region 6 which operated inside South Africa.

Brits said was aware that Slang van Zyl, a fellow Region 6 member, was running a project to assassinate Dullah Omar, and that the original intention was that he be shot with a silenced Makarov pistol. When this could not be done, the project was adapted and a decision taken to capitalise on Omar's heart condition, obtain samples of his medication and exchange them for a toxic substance. Brits himself was not involved in the acquisition of the toxic substance or the handing over thereof to Van Zyl.

Brits said it was "common knowledge" that the CCB had a broad range of methods and equipment at its disposal for use against the enemies of the state. Brits was not specifically aware that toxins were used, or of the infrastructure through which they were supplied. Despite the fact that he and Basson are cousins, Brits had minimal contact with him in a family context and never had direct contact with him while a member of the CCB. If Basson was involved in the supply of poisons or toxic substances to the SADF or specifically the CCB, Brits knows nothing about it.

The next statement was that of Staal Burger who joined the South African Police in 1961. He was offered employment by the SADF's Special Forces and along with three of his former detectives, and joined the covert unit which came to be known as the CCB. Burger said it was "generally understood" that the CCB had a wide range of methods at its disposal to achieve its aims. During the "Dullah Omar project", Burger became aware that these included the use of poisons and toxic substances. If a toxin was required, the request would be made to the Regional Co-ordinator, who would discuss it with the Managing Director, Joe Verster, and later with the Chairman, who was the commanding officer, Special Forces.

Regarding the baboon foetus hung in Archbishop Desmond Tutu's garden, Burger said the objective was to intimidate and discredit Tutu. The project was not initiated by his region and he was given only superficial information about it. It was a Region 9 project, specifically run by Anton du Randt (real name Stefaans van der Walt). Burger claimed that shortly before the elections in Namibia, the CCR as a whole was ordered to focus on the former South West Africa. Burger refuses to answer any questions about external or foreign operations. During his entire association with the CCB, Burger never knew or knew of Basson.

The next witness was Migiel Sven Smuts-Muller who joined the SADF in 1977 and was attached almost immediately to 31 Battalion which was conducting covert operations in then South West Africa. Smuts-Muller said he knows Basson well, having first encountered him in 1978/79 at Katima Mulilo and in the sickbay at Mpacha. Smuts-Muller was later transferred to Special Forces (he gave no dates) and specifically to D40 (the early name for Operation Barnacle), while it was still operating from a smallholding near Broederstroom. Although he held the rank of major at the time, he describes his task as "SO3 Sandbags and Oddjobs". Through the transmogrification of D40 into Barnacle and the CCB, he did the same job, vaguely described as "logistics". When he left the CCB in 1989, Smuts-Muller opened a removal company and storage facility - Around the World Removals, based in Midrand. He said that a number of ex-CCB agents used his warehouse to store goods, including Bill Grieve. In August 1998, this led to a raid on the warehouse by agents of the National Intelligence Agency and members of the Special Investigation Team, complete with armed escort and search warrants. Some 22 steel trunks which were being stored in Grieve's name were seized and found to contain large quantities of arms, ammunition and documents.

Smuts-Muller also stored a number of items for Basson after issuing him with a quotation dated April 11, 1995. Smuts-Muller himself was present when the goods were loaded at Basson's house in Aries Street, Waterkloof. The items were later removed from storage.

The next witness, a medical doctor, can only be identified as Mr R in terms of an order of the court. He was warned against self-incrimination on charges 59, 60 and 63. His mostly monosyllabic testimony began with an admission that he had been a member of a Special Forces covert operations sub-division which he later learned was the CCB. On completion of his national service, Mr R joined the Permanent Force in 1987 and was recruited almost immediately into the CCB, of which he was a member until the end of 1989/beginning of 1990.

Mr R said he joined the CCB because "the bush war had moved into the cities" and he realised that covert measures would be needed to combat the threat. He regarded all orders he received or carried out as a CCB agent as lawful, and was deeply conscious that "we were not playing games...we were engaged in deadly conflict".

He said his tasks included seeing to the medical needs of covert units, providing medical advice and meeting the units operational requirements. He was able to run his own medical practice and did not wear a uniform, but when needed for CCB business, would be paged. He admitted acting as courier for certain "products" needed by CCB operators. The requirements would be given to him by an agent he knew as Theo. No real names were used, though Mr R - whose administrative name was Frans Brink - knew the true identity of some CCB operators. His contacts in this regard were Basson and the person he knew only as Willem (the code name used by RRL scientist Dr Andre Immelman).

Mr R would convey Theo's requests to either Basson or Willem, the products would be given to him and he would pass them on to the CCB. He said that "sometimes" he knew what the products were to be used for, while on other occasions, he "wondered" but assumed that all requests were in keeping with the CCB's objective of maximum disruption of enemies of the state. When he handed products over to Theo, they met somewhere at the side of a road, but his meetings with Basson and Willem took place in Basson's secretary's office.

He has been shown the Sales List, but said he has no independent memory that either Basson or Willem gave him the items on it. He met with Willem five or six times. He confirmed that some "products" were given to him by Basson, and says the only two people who ever gave him items for the CCB, were Basson and Willem.

When Mr R was asked by Theo to provide a baboon foetus, he had no idea what the purpose was to be, but accepted that it would fall within the broad objectives of the CCB. He took the request to either Willem or Basson and some time afterwards, took receipt of a cooler box in Sarie Jordaan's (Basson's secretary) office, though he cannot remember precisely who handed it to him, or who told him it contained the foetus. He gave the container to Theo. The date recorded on the Sales List compiled by Andre Immelman for the provision of the baboon foetus could be accurate, says Mr R. The only other thing he knows about a baboon foetus is what he read later in newspapers about the one hung at Tutu's home.

Mr R was also approached by Theo in connection with heart medication, and given examples (tablets) "to put into the system". Again, Mr R assumed this was "CCB business" and passed the pills on to the "formal structure" via either Basson or Willem. His recollection is that the pills were white and in a plastic container. Mr R told the court he was an extremely unwilling witness against Basson, and had to be forced to make a statement and testify. During cross examination Adv Cilliers put it to the witness that he could have been passing on innocuous medication, such as paracetamol for use by the operators themselves.

Wedneday December 6, 2000

Another former 7 Medical Battalion doctor, Hennie Bester, now an orthopedic surgeon in George, was called to the stand. Bester qualified as a doctor before doing his national service from 1981 and in his second year of duty, was recruited by Basson to join the Permanent Force and specifically 7 Medical Battalion. Most of the operations on which he provided medical support were in Mozambique, and he was a frequent visitor to Gorongoza, headquarters of Renamo in Mozambique, though he also spent some time providing medical support for the task force of the now defunct Railways Police.

Bester said that in April 1983, he was asked by Basson to accompany him to the Fontana base north of Pretoria (where Christina was killed). Bester was at Fontana for only one day, and says he "really had no idea what was going on", saw nothing untoward and did even less. He was not involved in the interrogation of any suspects, saw no one who appeared catatonic or was receiving medical treatment and neither heard nor saw any sign of faction fights.

In cross-examination, Adv Cilliers had Bester confirm that, as stated in his affidavit, neither he nor Basson participated in the interrogation of anyone at Fontana, and that as far as he could ascertain, all interrogation was conducted by members of the East Rand Murder & Robbery Squad, and specifically Gerrit Viljoen. Bester said it appeared to him that the doctors at the scene were there merely in an advisory capacity. Asked by Cilliers if he had any knowledge of "more primitive peoples" being prone to "trances" or catatonia when subjected to undue stress, Bester said yes, he had encountered such situations both in the Angolan war theatre and at mission hospitals. Patients in this condition appeared to have "lost touch with reality" and he agreed with Cilliers that this phenomenon was prevalent in "less developed peoples". In re-examination Bester said that he had only once before seen a woman who was catatonic.

The next witness was Colonel Dawie Venter, a 33-year policeman who joined the Attorney General's Special Investigation Unit in March 1997. Venter has been an investigator on this case since then.Venter told the court how witnesses were approached and under what circumstances they had come to testify.

Venter said a crucial aspect of the investigation was the search for files and documents to support the information provided by witnesses. This, however, proved one of the biggest obstacles for investigators. They were sent from one South African National Defence Force officer to another, and eventually had to enlist the aid of then deputy defence minister Ronnie Kasrils, who assured them of the SANDF's full cooperation. A year later, having made no progress at all, a search warrant was issued for the SANDF archives. The investigators wanted:

1. Five personnel files of murder accomplices, including Theron, Floyd and Van der Linde,
2. the personnel file and medical records of Victor de Fonseca,
3. the medical records of the unidentified Swapo patient who died at 1 Military Hospital in the mid-80s and whose body was burned at Speskop,
4. medical records of the Swapo detainee admitted to 1 Military Hospital in 1983 after allegedly being poisoned in the Operational Area and transported by air to Waterkloof Air Base, then by ambulance to the hospital,
5. the service records of former operators Mack Anderson and Eric Mabena (officially declared Absent Without Leave when they vanished without trace),
6. the personnel file of Major Dave Drew, who died at 1 Military Hospital under "suspicious circumstances",
7. documents relating to the medical staff stationed at Speskop, specifically who had access to Scoline and Tubarine,
8. 1 Military Hospital's dispensary records, and
9. Basson's personnel file. The only document the investigators were ever given, purported to be Basson's file - containing 15 sheets of paper, some of them duplicates of one another, recording his leave applications and details of some inter-unit transfers.

   Venter said he was in the team that raided the Midrand warehouse of Around the World Removals in August 1998 and seized a number of steel trunks containing clothing, wigs, documents, weapons and explosives. He confirms that the "success report" on Project Apie - the baboon foetus in Archbishop Desmond Tutu's garden - came from one of those trunks. Venter was also involved in the confiscation of Delta G Scientific's laboratory records.

   Venter said the investigation had been anything but normal. The vast majority of witnesses had agreed to cooperate only to the extent they were advised to do so by their own legal representatives, and there had been "very little" spontaneity or opportunity to probe them beyond the written statements produced by their attorneys.

   During cross examination Adv Cilliers tried to get Venter to admit that witnesses had been coerced into making their statements. Venter denied this.

   Only a few days remain before the court will go into its December recess, the continued testimony of Bernard Zimmer is expected next week.

    

   This report has been prepared by Chandré Gould and Marlene Burger. Chandré  Gould is a research associate at the Centre for Conflict Resolution working on the Chemical and Biological Warfare Research Project. Marlene Burger is monitoring the trial  as part of the CCR Chemical and Biological Warfare Research Project. The Chemical and Biological Warfare Research Project is funded by the Ford Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Norwegian Government.

   Centre for Conflict Resolution, UCT, Private Bag, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa Tel: (27) 21-4222512 Fax: (27) 21-4222622 Email: [email protected]