''Vrye Weekblad'' was a groundbreaking progressive, 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 ...

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

that was launched in November 1988 and forced to close in February 1994. The paper was driven into

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

by the legal costs of defending its charge that

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 ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Lothar Neethling General Lothar Paul Neethling (29 August 1935, East Prussia – 11 July 2005) was chief deputy commissioner ( second-in-command) of the South African Police in the apartheid era. A highly qualified scientist, General Neethling was alleged to h ...

had supplied poison to security police to kill activists. It was relaunched in a digital format in April 2019 by Arena Holdings, with

Max du Preez Max du Preez (born 10 March 1951) is a South African author, columnist and documentary filmmaker and was the founding editor of ''Vrye Weekblad''. Vrye Weekblad Online or Vrye Weekblad II was launched on 5 April 2019 again with Max du Preez as ...

returning as editor and Anneliese Burgess as co-editor. A new edition is published every Friday on th
Vrye Weekblad
website.

History

''Vrye Weekblad'' (literally ''Free Weekly'', with "free" as in expression of opinion) was started as a result of frustration on the part of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

journalists who thought that the mainstream Afrikaans-language and English-language media lacked the courage to take on the apartheid state in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The paper was collectively owned by the founder members, who included editor Max du Preez and journalist Jacques Pauw. The editorial staff for the first edition of February 1989 comprised Karien Norval, Du Preez, Elsabe Wessels, Chris du Plessis, Pauw, Victor Munnik, and Koos Coetzee.

Threat to apartheid state

From the outset the state viewed the upstart paper as a threat. The Minister of Justice,

Kobie Coetsee Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee (19 April 1931 – 29 July 2000), known as Kobie Coetsee, was a South African lawyer, National Party politician and administrator as well as a negotiator during the country's transition to universal democracy. Biograph ...

, raised the cost of registering the newspaper from R10 to R40,000. As the owners could not pay, the first few editions of ''Vrye Weekblad'' appeared on the street illegally, and they were taken to court. In December 1988, former state president

P. W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...

sued ''Vrye Weekblad'' for R200,000 for defamation after the newspaper had exposed his links with a

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

gangster. The case was dropped when Botha suffered a stroke early in 1989. Later that year, seven charges under state of emergency legislation were levied against ''Vrye Weekblad'' for advertising a meeting of a banned organisation. On 17 November 1989 it published extensive confessions of

Dirk Coetzee Dirk Coetzee (15 April 1945 – 7 March 2013) was co-founder and commander of the covert South African Security Police unit based at Vlakplaas. He and his colleagues were involved in a number of extra judicial killings including that of Griffith ...

, a former commander of the Police Death Squad at

Vlakplaas Vlakplaas (trans. "shallow farm") is a farm 20 km west of Pretoria that served as the headquarters of counterinsurgency unit C1 (later called C10) of the Security Branch of the apartheid-era South African Police. Though officially called S ...

. The story was published worldwide but none of the mainstream South African media covered it. In May 1990, the newspaper revealed the inner secrets of the

Civil Cooperation Bureau The South African Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB), was a government-sponsored counterinsurgency unit, during the apartheid era. The CCB, operated under the authority of Defence Minister General Magnus Malan. The Truth and Reconciliation Comm ...

(CCB) and described how Pieter Botes, a CCB commander, tried to kill anti-apartheid activist

Albie Sachs Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (born 30 January 1935) is a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela. Early life and education Albie Sachs was born on ...

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

in 1988, and tried to undermine

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

in the run-up to the November 1989 elections in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. In 1991, a powerful bomb wrecked the offices of ''Vrye Weekblad''. A CCB operative, Leonard Veenendal, later confessed to having planted the bomb. In 1991 Judg
Johann Kriegler
ruled in favour of ''Vrye Weekblad'' in the Rand Supreme Court. But the Appeals Court overturned Kriegler's decision and ordered the paper to pay R90,000 and costs. (The ensuing legal battle cost both sides R2 million over five years and forced the paper to close). The

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) criticized journalist Jacques Pauw's report in the 17 January 1992 issue that

Patrick Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African politician, who currently serves as the President and Leader of the Congress of the People since 16 December 2008. Previously as a member of the African National Congress, ...

had offered money to a right-winger to assassinate Glory "September" Sidebe. Sidebe was a former ANC member who worked with Vlakplaas death squads, while Lekota was then a member of the ANC's National Executive Committee. Just prior to its closure the paper was published out of an old bank building in Newtown, Johannesburg.

Vlakplaas revelations

Late in 1989, ''Vrye Weekblad'' established contact with

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, the commander in charge of the South African Police's secret elite unit, Section C1, who were stationed at ''Vlakplaas'', a farm southwest of

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 ...

. This elite section formed part of President P.W. Botha's so-called "Total Strategy", and were supposed to disable opponents to Botha's apartheid regime, whenever the country's courts were unable to do so. Section C1's methods included

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

ing and

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

. Coetzee also revealed that General

had supplied poison to the police, which would drug and eventually kill anti-apartheid activists. Well aware that it could have serious consequences for the newspaper, ''Vrye Weekblad'' decided not to withdraw Neethling's name from their reports. The newspaper arranged for Coetzee to be safely taken out of South Africa and he eventually found

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 17 November 1989, the story about ''Vlakplaas'' broke on the front page of ''Vrye Weekblad''. The story was also used by other alternative newspapers in South Africa, although the local mainstream media preferred to ignore the story or deny its truthfulness. Across the world, however, the reports of ''Vlakplaas'' received widespread coverage. The revelations about Section C1 prompted more revelations from other policemen and army officials about the dirty activities at ''Vlakplaas'' and other government institutions. In 1994,

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Eugene de Kock Eugene Alexander de Kock (born 29 January 1949) is a former South African Police colonel, torturer, and assassin, active under the apartheid government. Nicknamed "Prime Evil" by the press, De Kock was the commanding officer of C10, a counterin ...

(who operated ''Vlakplaas'' at the time of the revelations), was given two life-sentences and an additional 212 years in prison, on charges of among other things,

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, attempted murder,

culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular j ...

, kidnapping,

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. Following the revelations of the 1989 court case Neethling sued news agencies including ''Vrye Weekblad'' for defamation and was represented in court by

Barry Roux Barry Roux SC (born 21 November 1955) is a South African lawyer who was admitted to the bar in 1982. His practice covers criminal, insurance, delictual, aviation, matrimonial, medical negligence, general contractual and liquidation work. He se ...

. The judges of the Bloemfontein Appellate Division declared that both Neethling and Coetzee had probably lied, and it was impossible to determine the truth. Nonetheless, they found that ''Vrye Weekblad'' had defamed Neethling, and ordered it to pay him R90,000 plus legal costs. This ultimately led to the bankruptcy and closure of the ''Vrye Weekblad'' in February 1994.

Breaking news

According to Du Preez's submission to 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 ...

, ''Vrye Weekblad'' revealed:Max du Preez's submission to the TRC
/ref> * November 1988:

is the new commanding officer of the Vlakplaas unit and committed a number of murders, including those of eight people in

Piet Retief Pieter Mauritz Retief (12 November 1780 – 6 February 1838) was a ''Voortrekker'' leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he assumed command of punitive expeditions in response to raiding parties from the adjacent ...

* December 1989: Siphiwe Mthimkulu was tortured and poisoned by the Eastern Cape security police and was seen in

SAP Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...

company on 14 April 1982 * January 1990: police tortured prisoners and supported Inkatha vigilantes against United Democratic Front supporters, and murdered activist

David Mazwai David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

* February 1990: a professor was an agent of the National Intelligence Service (the revelation led to a fine of R7,000 in terms of the Protection of Information Act) * May 1990: the secret

(CCB) was run by the South African Defence Force. Later CCB member Pieter Botes explained how he bombed

in 1988, how the CCB operated against the

South-West Africa People's Organisation The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

and assassinated

Anton Lubowski Anton Theodor Eberhard August Lubowski (3 February 1952 – 12 September 1989) was a Namibian anti-apartheid activist and advocate. He was a member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). In 1989 he was assassinated by opera ...

* August 1991: police agent Larry Barnett transferred large amounts of money from the South African Police to Inkatha, and provided Inkatha with weapons * June 1992: dirty secrets 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 ...

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.vryeweekblad.com
1997. "Police General should be charged with murder, says Max du Preez." South African Press Association
Organisations associated with apartheid Defunct newspapers published in South Africa Anti-Apartheid organisations Publications established in 1988 Publications disestablished in 1994 1988 establishments in South Africa 1994 disestablishments in South Africa