Right-Wing Groups - South African Government Information

i n j u red. Almost the entire AWB leadership was arrested on charges of public violence .
AWB leaders, Mr Eugene Te r r re’Blanche [AM7994/97] and Mr Petrus Johannes
‘Piet Skiet’ Rudolph [AM6329/97] applied for amnesty for the incident.
243. Both applicants testified that they had been key figures although they had had
no personal involvement in the various incidents that which took place during the
violent confrontation with the police. Both averred that the State President and
members of the security forces charged with the keeping of law and order at
the time of the incident were the proximate causes of the ensuing violence, and
they applied to the Committee to subpoena Mr de Klerk as a witness.
R U D O L P H: What I told, or wanted to tell Mr de Klerk that evening was exactly
what I have just told you, and that is that we did not go there to fight for or
against apartheid and to demonstrate against apartheid, but simply for our
f reedom. Mr de Klerk chose to destroy us. He employed his forces there and
thought well to set the police on us in an unbridled manner. (Klerksdorp hearing,
10 May 1999.)
244. The application was refused on the grounds that the Amnesty Committee did
not re g a rd Mr de Klerk as a necessary or essential witness to enable the
Committee to arrive at a decision.
245. The Committee also did not deem it necessary to make a finding as to the
p roximate cause of the public violence. All the Committee needed to consider
was whether the applicants complied with the formal re q u i rements of the Act,
whether the acts were committed with a political objective as re q u i red by the
Act and whether the applicants had made a full disclosure of all relevant facts
with re g a rd to their participation.
246. Mr Rudolph testified that he, together with Mr Te r re’Blanche, had been at the
f o re f ront of the procession of armed AWB members as they marched to the
meeting in Ventersdorp. He testified he was arrested before the major part of
the confrontation with the police took place. During this fracas, a number of
people were killed and injured. Rudolph himself sustained minor injuries.
247. Rudolph testified that he was fully aware of the high political tension that
p revailed and that he had forseen that conflict would arise from the actions that
they re g a rded as the exercise of their democratic right. The demonstrators were
intent on conveying their political sentiments to the leaders of the govern m e n t
of the time.
V O L U M E 6 S E C T I O N 3 C H A P T E R 6 P A G E 4 9 5