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Thandi Shongwe said the exhumation of her husband's remains had brought closure to her family.

She said for the past 23 years she had been wondering where her husband had been buried.

"Today I am relived that I have finally found the place where my husband was buried. It is painful to many families that can't trace where their loved ones were buried," Shongwe said.

She said had it not been for Vlakplaas commander Eugène de Kock the family would still be in the dark about the whereabouts of Sam's grave.

"I met De Kock during the truth and reconciliation commission and asked him where my husband was buried. He told me that Sam was buried as a pauper in Vosloorus and gave me the grave number," Shongwe said.

Sam died after being tortured by De Kock for his involvement in the car bomb that killed three people in Witbank on October 24 1988.

On November 7 the same year members of Vlakplaas, a special police task force unit, Germiston and Witbank security police members raided a house in Vosloorus, looking for Sam.

He was spotted jumping over a wall. Vlakplaas member Leon Flores shot and wounded him in the leg.

De Kock tok him into a police vehicle and handcuffed him to the metal.

Sam was tortured and suffocated by De Kock, who was trying to get information from him. He died in the police vehicle.

Sam was subsequently buried as an identified pauper in a separate pauper section of Vosloorus Cemetery.

De Kock and his four colleagues, Flores, Willie Nortjé, Johan Tait and Sakkie Bosch were granted amnesty for their role in Sam's death.

Madeline Fullard of the NPA missing person task team said they were conducting DNA analysis on the exhumed remains before a reburial in Port Elizabeth.

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Fri May 24 18:59:26 SAST 2013 ::

Jun 27, 2011

nicki

damn you De Kock,wena you still alive spending time with your family
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Jun 27, 2011

Knan

Sam was tortured and suffocated by De Kock
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Watching this murderers (racist monsters) makes me sick, they killed many and still live to see democracy. Justice must be done and death penalty must be brought back, this monsters must pay for their crimes with their lives
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Jun 27, 2011

CrimsonRed

@ Knan - I agree with you. Bring back the death penalty and all the ANC & IFP members that killed people during apartheid must pay for their crimes with their lives.
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Jun 27, 2011

Uhuu

@ CrimsonRed- Lol....., o se tlaela hampe wena...!!
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Jun 27, 2011

Limpopoist

You can not blame Vlakplaas commander Eugène de Kock for these ,he was doing great job for apartheid government,Why ANC lead government guys not doing the best like "De Kock " guy,

Worse about ANC is that they only care about Ngunis,there are plenty of ex MK soldier who died BUT they only exhume xhosa and zulus, while Pedis,venda shangaan and tswana they dont care,

As a pedi ,our family took efforts to fetch remaining of my 2 uncle in zambia and Angola BUT we were left with alot of bill to foot while lithuli house(ANC head office) they dont want to comment about it and they say it is injustice we should have followed correct steps,for almost 6 year as a family we have never been given correct step to follow.
t
They can go ahead zulu monarch and Nguni brotherhood...Nxa
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Jun 27, 2011

Bosele

I dont know why they dont kill this guy and his friends.we are rated within the top 5 of the world intelligency agencies(sass,nia,military intelligence,crime intelligence) and we still cannot act in the best interest of our people? why dont they have some kind of accidents like bo Sabelo PALMER?Govt ya tena ka nako engwe if not most of the time.
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Jun 27, 2011

Daddylevi1*

da only question i have is "what's da cost of dis and who's footing da bill"...and i ask is all of dis necessary if we have monumental places like the freedon park where we have "isivivana"- a sacred place where the spirits of our fallen heroes nd heroines lie...
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Jun 27, 2011

jazzmataz

the truth and reconciliation commission brought alot of clousier to manny people but we cannot dwell in the past we, as a nation just hav to let go and move on. no matter what, De kock knows that he cannot just forget about what he did... a
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