Photo section
Top: Eugene de Kock’s father taught him how to shoot when he was a young boy still. Here he was about 12 years old.
Top: Eugene with his father, Lourens, and his brother, Vosloo (‘Vos’) on the far right.
Top: Jean ‘Hope’ de Kock, Eugene’s mother, at the family home in Montagu Street in Boksburg East.
Top: Jean and Lourens de Kock.
Top: Eugene (5) and Vos (4) with their grandfather, Josias Alexander de Kock, who farmed in Komga in the Eastern Cape.
Top: Eugene at their home at Van Graan Road in Springs.
Top: On this photo of the under-14A rugby team of Voortrekker High School in Springs, Eugene is seated in the middle row, third from the left.
The next three photos: As a teenager, Eugene went on a Voortrekker camp to Botswana. The group lost their bearings and was missing for some time before help arrived. According to Eugene, he wasn’t at all unnerved by the experience.
Top: A young Eugene in a relaxed mood with his friends.
Top: Eugene is in the middle, wearing glasses.
Top: Eugene during one of his periods of service in the former Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) as a member of the Police Anti-Terrorism Unit (PATU).
Top: Eugene and two unidentified policemen at the border between Rhodesia and Zambia.
Top: The tent in which Eugene lived during one of his periods of service in Rhodesia.
Top: The living quarters at one of the camps in Rhodesia.
Top: South African policemen receive training from members of the Rhodesian army in camouflage gear.
Top: At the end of 1979 Eugene became the commanding officer of Koevoet’s Zulu Delta team. Their badge carried the badger as emblem. ‘Shi-shi’ is the Ovambo word for badger.
Top: With his men from Zulu Delta.
Top: Eugene with his Koevoet comrades Lukas Kilino (left) and Jules (surname unknown) during the training of the first group of Koevoet members at the 5 Recce base.
Top: A newspaper clipping of Eugene and Brigadier Hans Dreyer, commanding officer of Koevoet, after a news conference in Oshakati.
Top: A seized 14,5 mm anti-aircraft gun. Eugene is at the back on the far right.
Top: Eugene with a 14,5 mm anti-aircraft gun looted from the army by members of Koevoet.
Top: Koevoet members at a draw well out in the bush. These wells were sometimes sabotaged by Koevoet.
Top: A Swapo fighter taken prisoner by members of Koevoet.
Top: Lukas Kilino of Zulu Delta with another captured Swapo figher.
Top: Eugene and his Koevoet comrade John Adam with whom he also executed the London bombing.
Top: The Koevoet stores in Oshakati in which weapons, ammunition, vehicle oil and the like were housed.
Top: At a braai: Eugene is in the middle, wearing a white shirt.
Top: Koevoet comrades Attie Hattingh, Rodney Bradley and Fielies Kruger.
Top: Eugene behind a 14,5 mm anti-aircraft gun on the Zulu Delta Casspir during the Border War.
Top: A rare photo of Eugene de Kock at the Hennops River where it runs through Vlakplaas.
Top: The main entrance to the Vlakplaas farm.
Top: ‘Invisible, invincible’: The badger was again used as the emblem on the Vlakplaas badge.
Top: In 1983, shortly after he arrived at Vlakplaas, Eugene (front row, second from left) completed a course in explosives. Jerry Raven, who was part of the group that planted the London bomb, is second from right in the front row.
Top: Major-generals, brigadiers and other senior officials of the South African Police were wined and dined at Vlakplaas during the 1980s.
Top: Askaris of Section C1 are taught how to prepare for a parachute jump.
Top: Here a C1 Askari receives abseiling training.
Top: After qualifying in parachute jumping, the askaris received their wings.
Top: A group of askaris who received training in parachute jumping pose with their instructors from Vlakplaas.
Top: Eugene at home with his firstborn, also called Eugene.
Top: Eugene with his ex-wife, Audrey.
Top: From left to right: Vos de Kock and his father, Lourens, along with friends Koos Wilken and Koeks Koekemoer. Eugene is on the far right.
Top: Eugene and his Koevoet comrade Lukas Kilino in Oshakati in 1987.
Top: The author in conversation with former Vlakplaas operative Nick Vermeulen at Boknes in the Eastern Cape.
Top: As late as 1991 Vlakplaas operative Nick Vermeulen received a commendation from the commissioner of police for his role in Operation Excalibur. The operation by former Vlakplaas members was intended to counter weapons smuggling by the liberation movements, by then unbanned.
Top and bottom: Newspaper clippings from the time Eugene was arrested and tried in a court of law.
Top and bottom: As a result of Eugene’s testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission several apartheid crimes related to the Security Branch and the Defence Force came to light.
Top: An article in the tabloid Son written by Eugene while he was in prison.
Top: A photo of Eugene in prison attire taken at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.
Top: The author at Vingerkraal farm outside Bela-Bela where a group of former black Koevoet members live. In the wheelchair is the former Koevoet member and author Shorty Kamango.
Top: In conversation with General Hans Dreyer, former commanding officer of Koevoet.
Top: The author on her way to do a parachute jump with former members of the police’s task force.
Top: Eugene applied unsuccessfully for parole a number of times before it was finally approved at the end of January 2015.
The academic Piet Croucamp helped Eugene with his applications for parole in recent years and campaigned actively for his release. During his incarceration Eugene started assisting the National Prosecuting Authority’s Missing Persons Task Team in their search for the remains of murdered activists. The following two photos were taken on one such an occasion.
Top: Former task-force member Larry Hanton at the cross erected by family members of apartheid victims on the helicopter landing pad at Vlakplaas.
Top: The author with Candice Mama (far left), the daughter of one of the victims of the Nelspruit shooting, and Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, author of A Human Being Died that Night.