Former President Mbeki denies secret deals with apartheid-era generals — Daily Maverick

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, during hearings of the Hampepe Commission, which is investigating delays in prosecutions in cases following the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, denied secret arrangements with former military and police generals from the apartheid era. He said he had not made agreements that could have prevented the National Prosecuting Authority or the police from investigating and prosecuting former security force members.

As Daily Maverick reports, Mbeki said that the generals approached him in 1996, while the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was still operating. According to him, they said they would not submit amnesty applications unless then-President Frederik Willem de Klerk and members of his cabinet did the same. Mbeki said that the African National Congress proposed appealing to de Klerk and his colleagues with such a call.

Collective amnesty application

Mbeki also spoke about the ANC leadership's collective application for amnesty. According to him, it was submitted to create moral grounds for calling on the former apartheid government to do the same. He was part of the so-called Group of 37. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission initially granted amnesty to its members, but a court later overturned that decision.

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The former president said the group’s members were selected because of their leadership positions during the relevant period. He also said that none of them had committed a specific gross violation of human rights as defined by the law on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Role of the prosecution service

Mbeki rejected claims of political interference by his administration in investigations of cases related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He noted that in March 2003, a specialized unit for such proceedings was created within the National Prosecuting Authority, headed by advocate Anton Ackermann.

The former president stressed the difference between presidential pardons for convicted persons and prosecutors’ decisions on investigations and charges. According to him, the president’s pardon powers applied only to people who had already been convicted by a court. Mbeki placed responsibility for delays in prosecuting cases related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the National Prosecuting Authority.