HE WAS a brutal apartheid assassin but a few weeks ago Eugene de Kock walked out of Tshwane's C Max Prison to help locate the remains of one of his victims.
Former Umkhonto weSizwe operative Phemelo Bruce Ntehelang, who was also known as MK Bruce or Pioneer, was killed by De Kock's men in July 1989 after he was captured and forced to become an askari.
However, he absconded several times but was recaptured, beaten and killed while being suffocated with a tyre tube.
De Kock, notoriously known as "Prime Evil", persuaded another person to assist the National Prosecuting Authority's missing persons task team, which located Ntehelang's remains on the fourth day of excavation.
Ntehelang's remains will be exhumed today for reburial next year after forensic examination.
Nearly two decades ago, while De Kock was on trial for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms and fraud, police tried to find Ntehelang's remains on the banks of the Sehubyane River in Zeerust but were unsuccessful.
During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, askari Xola Mbane, who also lived at De Kock's base Vlakplaas, said there were rumours after Ntehelang was killed that he had gone to rejoin the ANC.
De Kock and nine of his men - Leon Flores, Douw Willemse, Andries van Heerden, Izak Bosch, Johann Tait, Martinus Ras, Wilhelm Bellingam, Adriaan Baker and Petrus Snyders - applied and were granted amnesty for Ntehelang's death.
"Prime Evil" also fraudulently arranged for Ntehelang's salary as an askari to be paid to his (Ntehelang) mother after his death to cover up the murder.
At the TRC hearings, some of De Kock's men and askaris claimed Ntehelang was "drunk, quite cocky and had been robbed of his weapon in a shebeen but suspected he had given or sold it".
sidimbal@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
'Prime evil' helps family find closure
HE WAS a brutal apartheid assassin but a few weeks ago Eugene de Kock walked out of Tshwane's C Max Prison to help locate the remains of one of his victims.
Former Umkhonto weSizwe operative Phemelo Bruce Ntehelang, who was also known as MK Bruce or Pioneer, was killed by De Kock's men in July 1989 after he was captured and forced to become an askari.
However, he absconded several times but was recaptured, beaten and killed while being suffocated with a tyre tube.
De Kock, notoriously known as "Prime Evil", persuaded another person to assist the National Prosecuting Authority's missing persons task team, which located Ntehelang's remains on the fourth day of excavation.
Ntehelang's remains will be exhumed today for reburial next year after forensic examination.
Nearly two decades ago, while De Kock was on trial for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms and fraud, police tried to find Ntehelang's remains on the banks of the Sehubyane River in Zeerust but were unsuccessful.
During the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, askari Xola Mbane, who also lived at De Kock's base Vlakplaas, said there were rumours after Ntehelang was killed that he had gone to rejoin the ANC.
De Kock and nine of his men - Leon Flores, Douw Willemse, Andries van Heerden, Izak Bosch, Johann Tait, Martinus Ras, Wilhelm Bellingam, Adriaan Baker and Petrus Snyders - applied and were granted amnesty for Ntehelang's death.
"Prime Evil" also fraudulently arranged for Ntehelang's salary as an askari to be paid to his (Ntehelang) mother after his death to cover up the murder.
At the TRC hearings, some of De Kock's men and askaris claimed Ntehelang was "drunk, quite cocky and had been robbed of his weapon in a shebeen but suspected he had given or sold it".
sidimbal@sowetan.co.za
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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