General Johann Petrus Coetzee is a South African police officer. He was Commissioner of the

South African Police The South African Police (SAP) was the national police force and law enforcement agency in South Africa from 1913 to 1994; it was the ''de facto'' police force in the territory of South West Africa (Namibia) from 1939 to 1981. After South Afr ...

from 1983 to 1987.

Personal life

Coetzee was born on the in Smithfield, Free State. He married Yvonne van Leylevid on in Johannesburg and has two children. He has degrees in political science and history.

Career in the police

Coetzee joined the police on in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

at the age of 16. He started his career in the Mounted Police, including as a member of the SA Police Royal Mounted Escort during the 1947 Royal visit to South Africa. Much of his career was spent in the Security Branch, where he co-ordinated the infiltration of anti-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

groups such as the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by the governing Na ...

. As a young desk officer he recruited South Africa's first secret agent, Gerard Ludi, and as Security Chief he was the mentor of Major

Craig Williamson Craig Michael Williamson (born 1949), is a former officer in the South African Police, who was exposed as a spy and assassin for the Security Branch (South Africa), Security Branch in 1980. Williamson was involved in a series of events involvi ...

, who had great success in infiltrating the International University Fund. On he was made Commissioner of the South African Police; he was also a member of the

State Security Council The State Security Council (SSC) was formed in South Africa in 1972 to advise the government on the country's national policy and strategy concerning security, its implementation and determining security priorities. Its role changed through the pr ...

. He retired in May 1987. While he was Commissioner, the South African Railway Police merged with the SA Police, a full-fledged Forensics branch was established and the SAP got a helicopter fleet. Braam Fischer, the brilliant advocate who turned underground leader of the Communist Party, was ultimately unmasked by Coetzee, and arrested through the efforts of one of his agents, Gerad Ludi. Brigadiers Roelf van Rensburg and Kalfie Broodryk were the arresting Officers.

Awards

General Coetzee was awarded the

South African Police Star for Outstanding Service The South African Police Star for Outstanding Service was a decoration that existed between 1979 and 2004. Recipients are entitled to the post-nominal letters SOE, standing for , the Latin form of the name. Instituted on 1 May 1979, the SOE took ...

for the bravery he showed when he walked into the bank, unarmed, to negotiate with the MK Cadres during the

Silverton Siege ''Silverton Siege'' is a South African film directed by Mandla Dube. It is based on the real life siege that took place in Silverton, Pretoria in 1980. The film was released internationally on Netflix on 27 April 2022. According to African Fo ...

in Pretoria in 1981. * * * * *

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Coetzee, under cross-examination by

George Bizos George Bizos ( el, Γιώργος Μπίζος; 14 November 19279 September 2020) was a Greek-South African human rights lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa. He was noted for representing Nelson Mandela during the Rivonia T ...

before the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...

, denied any involvement in several murders and other atrocities committed by the

National Party government. He later applied for amnesty from the TRC in 2000.

Personal life

Career in the police

Awards

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

References

See also