Vlok and the poisoning of history

There’s been an injustice to history. It’s in the plea bargain that helped former police minister Adriaan Vlok and four cohorts avoid jail last June. The rewriting of the record was spotted recently by a colleague who checked out the legal agreement that allowed the five would-be murderers to walk away with mere suspended sentences.

Their designated victim was Frank Chikane, now Cabinet secretary, and a leader in the United Democratic Front (UDF) at the time of the poisoning plot. The plea-bargain document describes how Wouter Basson authorised the release of the substance that was put on Chikane’s clothes and which then nearly killed him.

But the same document also claims that the UDF’s “stated policy” was to “propagate and support countrywide unrest and violence” (my italics). That’s not true. Part of the UDF’s political longevity was precisely that it did not advocate violence. In claiming the opposite, the plea-bargain document implies that these five proactive criminals were only reacting to the forces of aggression facing them. This lessens the gravity of violence by oppressors, making it seem as if the attack was partly justified.

Surprisingly, the document says that Chikane was consulted on the plea agreement and was satisfied with it. Maybe he didn’t read the small print.

Advocate AR Ackermann of the National Prosecuting Authority, who entered the plea agreement on behalf of the state, incorrectly believes the UDF was violent. If so, he’s mistaken. The ANC took up arms, of course, but the point was that the UDF did not (and that was part of its strength).
History should recognise the difference. Apartheid violence was unacceptable against anybody — but especially against those who pursued non-violent resistance.