Commission in South Africa receives index supporting Ackermann’s claim that memo was forged — Daily Maverick

In Pretoria, South Africa, the legal team representing families of apartheid victims submitted to the Khampepe Commission a handwritten index which, in its assessment, supports advocate Anton Ackermann’s claim that a disputed official memorandum dated 2006 was forged. As Daily Maverick reports, a physical examination of the original document took place on June 24, 2026.

Entry in the index

Advocate Asmita Thakor, representing the victims’ families, stated in an affidavit dated June 2026 that the handwritten index and the original memorandum are important evidence for the commission. According to her, the index compiled by Ackermann had not previously been provided to the parties to the proceedings, and the reasons for this decision are unknown to the families’ legal team.

The index contains an entry stating that Ackermann made decision “A15” on June 26, 2003. This is how the memorandum at the center of the dispute is designated in the case materials. Ackermann maintains that the document dated 2006, linked to an investigation into the alleged involvement of African National Congress leadership in landmine incidents, was not drafted that year.

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Dispute over the official memorandum

According to Ackermann’s testimony, in 2003 he reviewed 395 police case files at the Pretoria office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. He prepared internal memoranda for inclusion in case files to track their status, including whether suspects had been granted amnesty or whether further investigation was needed.

Ackermann told the commission that the original official memorandum had been prepared in 2003. According to him, the document was later used to create the impression that in 2006 he had sought the arrest of then-president Thabo Mbeki and other senior ANC officials. By his own testimony, he learned of the existence of such a document after a Rapport newspaper publication on August 19, 2007.

Former head of the legal division of the South African Police Service Petrus Jacobs previously told the commission that the original memorandum had been kept locked up in the General Piet Joubert building in Pretoria. Former police colonel Louis Bester also testified about a dispute between the police and the Directorate of Special Operations over the transfer of the original. The hearings were postponed, and a new date has not yet been announced.