The Da Silva Code: EUGENE DE KOCK

PRIME EVIL or simply PRIME RIB?

Eugene De Kock was given the name “Prime Evil” by the TRC (truth and reconciliation commission) which funnily enough did not have all that much truth or reconciliation at its hearings which descended into nothing short of witch hunts or farcical episodes of “feet washing” for forgiveness. Yes one ex general actually did the whole biblical thing and washed the feet of some or other by now corrupt politician. It was sickening to behold!

The generals who appeared before the TRC knew that they were guilty as all hell of rubber stamping the deeds of the security police and the military units involved in the war against an enemy who had taken up an armed struggle against the ruling regime. The generals in a show of total cowardice immediately struck deals and professed to be innocent of any knowledge of the actions of the units basically under their command. Anyone who spent time in the old South African Defence force knows very well that their biggest shortfall was the fact that the military documented EVERYTHING in triplicate and paper work was processed for every facet of daily life, be it ordering an operation across the border or going to the toilet to take a dump. Every book written that chronicles the stories of those who were involved all mention one familiar common denominator.

Paper work, receipts and signals were always being written, typed and manufactured which ultimately could and were used to bring about the downfall of many men. The generals were all very aware of what was going on and while the government was winning they were happy to sign off any operations that De Kock and his merry men were to carry out. After all these were our enemy and we were at war with them both in the bush and in the streets of our country, much like the Americans are right now in Afghanistan. We called them terrorists, the Americans call them insurgents. The point is we were at war and our enemy were more than happy to return the favour.

Eugene was a determined leader who led his men with an iron grip and took Koevoet (counter insurgency police unit) into history books as one of the finest fighting units. Koevoet are still legendary years after they last rode their Wolf turbo Casspirs into the bush hunting down terrorists/ insurgents or whatever you care to call the enemy.

Eugene was basically left to twist in the wind as token for the black incumbent ruling party who wanted someone to rot in prison for the “crimes” committed. The word crimes is in inverted commas for a reason as these supposed crimes were carried out on combatants who were fighting a war of attrition and terrorism against not only the state but against the population as a whole through terror tactics like planting of bombs in public places. Many of the terrorists were not in uniform and this is what the uninformed out there look at as being murder of civilians by the security apparatus however it must be noted that urban warfare like this is fought in civilian clothes and camouflage fatigues are usually reserved for the bush sector. People generally tend to go off on a tangent and say that the old South Africa was a place of hatred and dudes running around all cloak and dagger like but in reality if you look at the numbers in general and compare them to 18 years into “democracy” you will see a pattern emerge. It was far safer for not only the white people but also the black man. There was far better service delivery of basic needs like power and water, ablutions and near zero violence in townships compared to today! The new sparkling ANC led government has made a mockery of the term democracy and have shown that they are in actual fact a “HYPOCRISY” where nepotism, blatant outright theft , ineptitude, greed, stupidity, gangsterism among party members is rife. Yes gangsterism, all you need is to look at the front page of the daily papers and you see pictures emblazoned across the cover of an ANC cadre shooting his pistol like he were Billy the Kid . He ended up wounding a dude in his BMW and then started shooting into the crowd for extra fun it seems. Murder is rife and political party members are on the war path with each other in the rural areas. However this is a rant for another day.

Eugene was handed over and betrayed by gutless generals who are all complicit in the deeds undertaken at Vlakplaas. Look I suppose there was some overly harsh things done but it must be understood that a man was taken from the bush war and put into civilian street and told to put the squeeze on the terrs which he did with great effect. His tactics were maybe a little heavy handed but then again the enemy were not known for their restraint either. The fact that no generals went to sit the long sit at C Max prison along with Eugene speaks volumes as to just how they canoodled their way out of the poo and left 1 man to collectively take the rap and be the “prime evil”. What a bunch of baloney! De Kock deserves to be given the same amnesty as his generals were afforded and remember that in war there will always be casualties.

The TRC was an empty soap opera and managed to accomplish nothing more than run up costs and afford its members free travel countrywide and eat extravagantly at the tax payers expense. Make no mistakes, I am not a huge supporter of Eugene but he deserves to be either pardoned totally by our “fair and level headed” president or at least released and forced into exile. Eugene was once tasked in 1993 to eliminate Eeben Barlow who was the founder of Executive Outcomes, a company I had the distinct honour of working for in Angola. It seems that Eeben had trodden on some still serving big wigs in the old regime who were benefiting from the instability in Angola and were none to keen on one of “their own” going in and offering services to the democratically elected and internationally recognized government of Angola to end their mindless conflict that had consumed their country for more than thirty years. Anyway, someone got hold of Eugene and told him to whack Eeben as he was rocking their gravy train and it must be kept in mind that the country was fast slipping out the fingers of the old National Party and into the ANC`s hands. Eeben in his book Executive Outcomes against all odds tells in detail the incident I mention above and even went as far as inviting Eugene over to the Danny street offices of EO to confront Eugene in person about this order to have him taken out. I can only hazard a guess at the tension in the air but it was certainly a coup for Eeben as he managed to very clearly convince Eugene that he was possibly making the biggest mistake of his life. Eeben had more than 500 very , very loyal employees with varying talents and should he come to any harm then poor uncle Eugene would find no hole dark nor deep enough to hide in.

I still feel that even with the Eeben contract thrust upon Eugene he was merely the patsy the generals needed who could be counted on to do his job even if it were for men with no spine or honour! Not all the generals were bad and we had some legendary leaders who make the current upper echelon leaders in the SANDF of today look like clowns on patrol. However my knowledge of the general staff is mostly learned from those who I trust as being in the know and worked directly with the generals, my rank was not all that great in the SAAF and I never really dealt with officers higher than the rank of Brigadier.

Eugene has sat long enough in silence and rotted for the equally guilty. The man who pulls the trigger is just as guilty as the man who gave the consent for the trigger to be pulled. Eugene De Kock should be freed in the interest of conciliation and forgiveness, he was a soldier fighting a war against an enemy who were fighting their struggle. If it were not for this war the ANC would not have come to power at all. Just look what the ANC has done with the spoils of their war? The country is in a state of low level civil war with the ruling elite living high on the hog suckling off the tit of excess while their own people are left to live in squalor and yet these poor suckers still vote for the same elitists every election. I suppose ignorance and stupidity be gets stupidity and ignorance. Eugene may have inherited the moniker “Prime Evil” but the ANC have proved they are the “Prime Rib” part of the equation.