On South Africa's Secret Service, by Riaan Labuschagne

On South Africa's Secret Service, by Riaan Labuschagne. Galago Publishing. Alberton, South Africa 2002. ISBN 1919854088 / ISBN 1-919854-08-8

On South Africa's Secret Service is Riaan Labuschagne's first book. He resigned from duty with the National Intelligence Service in 1994.

Riaan Labuschagne  

The losers

It was sunset on the evening of 1 September 1996, the official first day of the South African spring, and I was sitting in Joe Cool's Restaurant watching the Indian Ocean. In the background a female voice resonated: '. . . had one of his informers persuade the five to rob a bank. He and his men then ambushed and killed them all. They murdered the fifth man in a car elsewhere so that he could not talk and they blew up his body so he could not be identified'. The television got my full attention. A reporter was leading with a story that would irritate and open wounds from the past. 'Hit squad murderer Eugene de Kock, who was found guilty of 89 crimes this week, will spill the beans and name senior police officers who were aware of or involved in his activities when he leads evidence in mitigation of sentence in the Supreme Court in Pretoria. 'Some have already been named in the De Kock trial, including retired generals Johan le Roux and Krappies Engelbrecht. The special police squad led by Brigadier Ivor Human and Captain Mike Holmes that brought De Kock to trial on 121 counts is expected to pounce on several high-ranking officers after De Kock has been sentenced. After their arrest it's almost certain that De Kock will turn state witness against them to support his plea for mitigation of sentence. 'The former commander of the hit squad known as CIO feels he has nothing to lose and is angry because so far he has had to carry the can alone. This was confirmed by his counsel. Flip Hattingh, on Tuesday shortly after the marathon 18 month trial was concluded. He also said he expected his client to describe visits to the hit squad headquarters at Vlakplaas by former minister Adriaan Vlok who attended barbecues and social gatherings there. On Friday the African National Congress welcomed the guilty verdict in the De Kock case, but said the judgement and the evidence led during the trial challenged the veracity of claims made by former president FW de Klerk that his government had never sanctioned murder, assassination, assault and kidnapping'. My gaze returned to the Indian Ocean as the newscaster switched to othernews. I had resigned from the National intelligence Service (NIS) two years before and had started a new life divorced from the realities of the world stage. I knew that the media and the general public would never learn the real truth about De Kock and the National Party government's campaign against the ANC. I thanked God I was no longer involved. I pitied De Kock for the situation he found himself in. He had been abandoned by his former masters who had given the orders and suddenly he was the scapegoat for all the evils committed by the apartheid regime. The lives of luxury and comfort being led by the former political elite of the National Party were in stark contrast to the misery of the forgotten ones they had left to take the rap. The story of Eugene de Kock had really disturbed me. I looked at the people outside, enjoying the last rays of the sun and the cool air that was blowing in from the sea. Couples were holding hands as they strolled along the beach. The promise of summer showed in the faces of young and old. It was a new beginning. But it was not much of a fresh start for Colonel Eugene de Kock . . . poor bastard. I swallowed the last dregs of beer and ordered a double whisky. I thought of assassinations, blackmail, lies and denial, the question of survival while on a quest to satisfy a thankless master. I was buried in an avalanche of recollections as my thoughts took me back on a road I had once travelled with such enthusiasm. [...]

This is an excerpt from the book: On South Africa's Secret Service, by Riaan Labuschagne.

Title: On South Africa's Secret Service
Subtitle: An Undercover Agent's Story
Author: Riaan Labuschagne
Publisher: Galago Publishing
Alberton, South Africa 2002
ISBN 1919854088 / ISBN 1-919854-08-8
Hardcover, dustjacket, 17 x 24 cm, 304 pages, several b/w and colour photographs