SOUTH AFRICA:A former cabinet minister and a retired police chief are to go on trial next month for apartheid- era crimes in a case that could see a string of other pre-1994 government figures in the dock.
Adriaan Vlok, a former minister for law and order, and former police general Johann van der Merwe, have both been charged by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) with the attempted murder of a senior African religious leader almost 20 years ago.
It is the first in a series of prosecutions planned against individuals who failed fully to disclose to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) their role in atrocities committed before South Africa's transition to democracy.
Former state president FW de Klerk has said any prosecutions should be handled with sensitivity for fear of unravelling reconciliation efforts. Human rights groups, however, have unconditionally welcomed the trial, saying prosecutions were long overdue in light of the failure of certain perpetrators to make amends for their actions.
Former TRC commissioner Yasmin Sooka said: "It's a great victory for the human rights sector that we have finally managed to put this issue on the map again." She added, however, "one would want to ask the question: do we go higher than Vlok or are we going to be only doing foot soldiers again?"
Mr Vlok was the only former cabinet minister who sought amnesty at the TRC, which was set up in 1995 to deal with the post-conflict situation. While he admitted his responsibility for a number of political bombings, he failed to reveal details of his alleged role in an assassination bid against Frank Chikane in breach of the commission's amnesty conditions.
Mr Vlok last year issued a personal apology to Mr Chikane, a former head of South Africa's Council of Churches, who now works as director-general in President Thabo Mbeki's office.
The former minister visited Mr Chikane in Pretoria's Union Buildings and washed his feet in a gesture of repentance.
Mr Chikane said yesterday he welcomed the NPA decision to prosecute, not because he wished to see Mr Vlok, or others, go to jail but because he wanted to find out the truth about his near-fatal poisoning in 1989. Mr Chikane's clothing had been laced with a nerve agent in an alleged police hit squad operation.
Under the NPA action, Mr Vlok is to stand trial with Mr van der Merwe, and three other former security force agents, at Pretoria High Court on August 17th.
NPA spokesman Panyaza Lesufi said a number of other apartheid-era crimes were being investigated, including the massacre of five civilians in a hotel in East London in 1993 and the torture and murder of three people in Eastern Cape in 1985.
The bodies of the so-called "Pebco Three" were discovered recently on a former police farm. Four former security personnel were refused amnesty by the TRC for their involvement in the crime.
Ms Sooka, who is also director of the Pretoria-based Foundation for Human Rights, said the TRC recommended prosecution in more than 300 cases on completion of its work in 1999. Guidelines had since been drawn up by the NPA on how best to manage the prosecutions and "we are hoping this process will allow that to start".
"We must remember that the TRC was part of a deal which led to the new South Africa coming into being. It was a very generous deal which, technically, in today's terms under international law, would not be allowed."
Also welcoming the prosecutions yesterday was former TRC chairman Dr Alex Boraine. He said people had ample opportunity to tell the truth to the commission and "I am sad and sorry that so many did not".
Mr De Klerk was widely criticised for his performance at the TRC. The former president repeatedly denied that he was party to the killing of political opponents and specifically denied knowledge of the bombings orchestrated by Mr Vlok and Mr van der Merwe.
Responding to the NPA decision, Mr De Klerk remarked: "Insofar as prosecutions are considered, they must be even-handed and take into consideration the peremptory requirements of the 1993 constitution as well as the spirit of the negotiations and other developments that preceded it."
A spokesman for the ruling African National Congress said the prosecutions were "an important part of the transformation that we are going through" and "we hope that South Africans will respect the outcome".