Vlakplaas (trans. "shallow farm") is a farm 20 km west of Pretoria that served as the headquarters of counterinsurgency unit C1 (later called C10)[1][2][3] of the Security Branch of the apartheid-era South African Police. Though officially called Section C1, the unit itself also became known as Vlakplaas. Established in 1979, by 1990 it had grown from a small unit of five policemen and about fifteen askaris to a unit of nine squads.[1]
The unit functioned as a paramilitary hit squad,[4] capturing political opponents of the apartheid government and either "turning" (converting) or executing them. Vlakplaas farm was the site of multiple executions of political opponents of the apartheid government.[5] The unit is known to have carried out the murders of Griffiths Mxenge in 1981 and the so-called "Chesterville Four" in 1986, among many others.[6] C1 officers were also notorious for allegedly routinely defrauding the state, siphoning off government funds to pay agents or for their personal use.[1]
The existence of the unit was revealed after a former member, Butana Almond Nofomela, confessed to his involvement hours before he was scheduled to be executed for an unrelated non-political murder. Nofomela was given a last minute reprieve so he could give up more information.[7][8]
^ abcO'Brien, Kevin (1 September 2001). "Counter-Intelligence for counter-revolutionary warfare: The South African police security branch 1979–1990". Intelligence and National Security. 16 (3): 27–59. doi:10.1080/02684520412331306200. ISSN 0268-4527. S2CID 153561623.
^Gump, James Oliver (2016). The Dust Rose Like Smoke: The Subjugation of the Zulu and the Sioux. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-8453-1.
^Scholtz-Hofmeyr, Renzske (2011). "The farm" (PDF) (MA thesis). Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
^The Role of Political Violence in South Africa's Democratisation
^Truth and Reconciliation - The Voice of 'Prime Evil' - BBC News
^Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa(PDF). Vol. 2. Cape Town: The Commission. 1998.
^"Vlakplaas Commander testifies before Harms Commission about secret police killings in 1981 | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
^Schiffrin, Anya. "Exposing apartheid death squads – A trail of murder and terror". City Press. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86842-895-3. Witch Doctors 'cleanse' VlakplaasVlakplaas proposed as museum Vlakplaas and the murder of Griffiths Mxenge 25°49′3.01″S 28°1′41...
and commander of the covert South African Security Police unit based at Vlakplaas. He and his colleagues were involved in a number of extrajudicial killings...
was blown, Mamasela escaped and joined the unit at Vlakplaas. Mamasela was part of the Vlakplaas police unit run by Apartheid colonel Eugene de Kock...
operator Eugene de Kock. C1 was run out of a secluded farmhouse called Vlakplaas until 1992. It functioned as a paramilitary hit squad, capturing political...
the dirty activities at Vlakplaas and other government institutions. In 1994, Colonel Eugene de Kock (who operated Vlakplaas at the time of the revelations)...
Kock to C10, a counter-insurgency unit headquartered at a farm called Vlakplaas, located 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Pretoria. De Kock, who had established...
Headquarters in Pretoria as well as the assistance of the Vlakplaas, a government death squad. Vlakplaas commander, Eugene de Kock chose Rian Bellingan to lead...
of Chess openings code C10 Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 Vlakplaas, also called Unit C-10, a section of the South African Police responsible...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
gave accounts of torture and murder that took place at the notorious Vlakplaas police farm. Nofomela identified a retired captain in the security police...
in South Africa operated a branch of the South African Police known as Vlakplaas who routinely used methods of terrorism to support the state in maintaining...
nearby Fish River. Eugene de Kock a former head of section C1 at the Vlakplaas farm north of Pretoria where many of these atrocities occurred – in his...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
the IFP and Vlakplaas originated in a 1990 meeting at which Khoza had asked a Vlakplaas operative to supply the party with weapons; Vlakplaas operatives...
police agencies such as the Civil Cooperation Bureau and C10 based at Vlakplaas were guilty of gross human rights violations. This led the International...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
successful operations they usually received bonuses. The askaris used Vlakplaas as an operational base and resided in the townships where they attempted...
parliamentary session in the Canadian House of Commons C1, also known as Vlakplaas, a unit of the South African Police responsible for assassinating opponents...
denied these claims but later admitted Mokhehle was part of the notorious Vlakplaas operation. Dag Hammarskjöld award in 1983 Honorary PhD in education from...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...
District Six Robben Island Sophiatown South-West Africa Soweto Sun City Vlakplaas Related topics Afrikaner nationalism Apartheid in popular culture Apartheid...