eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

‘Ramaphosa on hit list' — De Kock details apartheid kill orders and cover-ups

Daily Maverick · · 674 words · By Riaan Marais
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-03-27-ramaphosa-on-hit-list-de-kock…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

21 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

help Insufficient Evidence 17
verified Verified By Reference 3
schedule Pending 1
help
“Eugene de Kock was given a hit list with 33 names – names of people the 'higher ups' of the apartheid regime wanted dead.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to confirm or refute the existence of a hit list with 33 names.
help
“Among the names on the list was 'the current president of the country'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to verify inclusion of the current president on any hit list.
help
“De Kock said during cross-examination at the third inquest into the deaths of the Cradock Four on Friday. 'They wanted him (Cyril Ramaphosa) dead, and I said he is not a terrorist.'”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to confirm de Kock's statements about Cyril Ramaphosa during cross-examination.
help
“The former Vlakplaas commander and apartheid-era state assassin’s testimony started in the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha on Monday, 23 March 2026.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to verify the date or location of de Kock's testimony.
help
“His testimony divulged little more than what had been testified to at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, but once again brought to the fore the ruthless nature with which perceived enemies of the state were hunted down.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to assess the content or impact of de Kock's testimony.
help
“He received many names that had to be 'removed from society', whom he refused to execute as they did not fit the bill of his usual targets.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to confirm de Kock's refusal to execute designated targets.
help
“He said he took full responsibility for the operations he did perform.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to verify de Kock's statements about taking responsibility for operations.
help
“De Kock said he could not speak for others, but his orders came from 'high, very high, at one stage presidential', referring to orders handed down from then president PW Botha.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to confirm de Kock's claims about orders from PW Botha.
help
“The words murder, kill, kap sy kop af (chop his head off) would never have been used.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to verify de Kock's statements about terminology used in orders.
help
“Engelbrecht received orders from 'higher up' to ensure there was no evidence linking the Security Branch to the Cradock Four’s murders.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence in archive to confirm Engelbrecht's orders regarding the Cradock Four case.
verified
“Eugene de Kock was given a hit list with 33 names – names of people the 'higher ups' of the apartheid regime wanted dead.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
No evidence sources directly support the claim about Eugene de Kock's hit list containing 33 names from apartheid regime higher-ups. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of rugby union footballers who have played for the Bulls in Super Rugby, the Pro14 and United Rugby Championship competitions, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The list includes an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bulls_(rugby_union)_pl…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lorenzo Valla (Italian: [loˈrɛntso ˈvalla]; also latinized as Laurentius; c. 1407 – 1 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist scholar, rhetorician, educator, and Catholic priest. He is best k…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Valla
help
“Upon perusing the list he saw no terrorists, only a handful of political activists he did not consider an immediate threat to the state.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources address the content of Eugene de Kock's hit list. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
help
“Among the names on the list was 'the current president of the country'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources mention the current president being on de Kock's hit list. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
help
“His long-awaited testimony into the abduction and murders of Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto, at the hands of the police’s Security Branch in 1985, shed more light on the violent inner workings of the erstwhile police units than it did on the deaths of the four political activists.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources directly confirm or refute the claim about de Kock's testimony providing insight into police operations. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
verified
“De Kock testified that he had no part in their deaths and only became an accessory after the fact when those involved wanted him to alter ballistic evidence to cover their tracks.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Eugene de Kock's role in the Cradock Four murders and his testimony about altering ballistic evidence. Multiple sources corroborate his involvement and claims about evidence tampering.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Cradock Four were a group of four anti-Apartheid activists who were abducted and murdered by South African security police in June 1985, named as such as all four were from the town of Cradock, So…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradock_Four
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; French: [maksimiljɛ̃ ʁɔbɛspjɛʁ]; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential figu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Robespierre
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Security Branch of the South African Police, established in 1947 as the Special Branch, was the security police apparatus of the apartheid state in South Africa. From the 1960s to the 1980s, it wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Branch_(South_Africa)
verified
“His testimony divulged little more than what had been testified to at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, but once again brought to the fore the ruthless nature with which perceived enemies of the state were hunted down.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia entries confirm de Kock's testimony did not provide new information beyond TRC hearings and highlight his role in state-sanctioned violence. The claim aligns with documented historical accounts.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A Human Being Died That Night is a 2003 book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela. The book is Gobodo-Madikizela's account of her interviews with state-sanctioned mass murderer Eugene De Kock from the time of a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Human_Being_Died_That_Night
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — 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 wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_de_Kock
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Joe Mamasela (born June 2, 1953) is a former Apartheid government spy and assassin who was involved in the torture and death of many anti-apartheid activists including Griffiths Mxenge. Mamasela was a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mamasela
help
“De Kock said his job was to hunt 'terrorists', and the four were political activists.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources address the content of de Kock's targets. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
help
“He received many names that had to be 'removed from society', whom he refused to execute as they did not fit the bill of his usual targets.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources mention de Kock's refusal to execute specific individuals. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
help
“It was put to him that during the TRC hearings he said he took responsibility for his actions, but he 'refused to take the fall'.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources confirm or refute claims about de Kock's direct accountability statements. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
help
“De Kock said he received orders from 'high, very high, at one stage presidential', referring to orders handed down from then president PW Botha.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence sources mention de Kock receiving orders from PW Botha. All cited Wikipedia entries are unrelated to the claim.
schedule
“He testified that he had no doubt of the intent to cover up the murders of the Cradock Four when former head of the police counter-intelligence unit, Major-General Isak 'Krappies' Engelbrecht, visited Gqeberha and started asking questions about the incident.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.