Former South African Security Minister Adriaan Vlok, a self-confessed perpetrator of crimes during the Apartheid era, died Sunday at the age of 85 after a brief illness, a family spokesman confirmed.
Vlok was granted amnesty in 1999 after pleading guilty to orchestrating an attack on the National Church Council and the Cosatu trade union, as well as the attempted murder of Reverend Frank Chikane, the council’s secretary general.
The former minister died at Unitas Hospital in Centurion town, Guateng province, family spokesman Peet Bothma confirmed to News24.
During his tenure as head of the Security Ministry from 1986 to 1991, Vlok oversaw the brutal police crackdown in the segregation era. He was responsible for the arrest of at least 30,000 people, including 15,000 who were simultaneously imprisoned during the declaration of a state of emergency for protests during the final years of Apartheid.
Vlok also administered the National Security Act which, in 1988, led to the outlawing of nearly 20 anti-segregation organizations and, as a member of the State Security Council, was involved in multiple targeted assassination operations against activists.
In fact, in an interview with the ‘Mail and Guardian’, Vlok admitted to having signed letters of congratulations to officers later accused of perpetrating these executions and used words such as «eliminate» to encourage police repression against political dissidents. He claimed, however, that he had no exact knowledge of the details of these operations.
Vlok ended his testimony before the Reconciliation Commission by apologizing for his actions.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
