Table of Contents/Inhoudsopgawe
Redaksie, Nongqai
- NONGQAI VOLUME 17, Nr. 1. Januarie 2026.
- SAA Flight SA 228, 20 April 1968, Windhoek – Wofgang Witshas
- In Momoriam: Jacob S. (Clasie) Claassen – Johan Mostert
- New Books: The Daisy Spy Ring [Naledi] – Henning van Aswegen
- SAMIVA, Sunrise Memotial Service. 8 February 2026 – Mike Huxtable
- Spotty Dog Roadhouse – Hennie Heymans
- Krygsgevangenis le nou naamloos in hul grafte – Hennie Heymans
- Pansterkultuur – via Kol. A P Stemmet, Ere-kolonel Regiment Oranje Rivier [OR]
- Lt-Col Ray Munihall Mathura – Logan Govender
- Start of the Angola-South African Bush War, 1966 – 2026 – Wolfgang Witschas
- Sarie van Niekerk – Hennie Heymans
- New Book: Seeing the Elephant – Lewis Gerber
- Captain Nelson Kabalammurthie Nayager – Logan Govender
- Moleste Daar Bo – HermanToerien
- USA Justice Department Files Complaint against South Africa – Henning van Aswegen
LEADER
In this January 2026 edition of Nongqai magazine the spotlight is focussed directly pn the National Prosecuting Authordity [NPA], and its malfeasant policy of selective prosecuctions of former members of South Africa’s security forces.
Parliamentarians, and civic and human rights organizations such as the Foundation for Equality before the LAW [FEC], are demanding prosecutions against the ANC and members of SA’s liberation organizations whose applications for immunity from prosecution for gross human rights violations committed between 1960 and 1994, was refused by the Trutch and Reconcilliation Commission [TRC]. Amnesty for the perpetrators of gross human rights was denied to some applicants, and other did not bother to apply for amnesty or immunity at all.
Too many people, including the National Prosecution Authority [NPA}, are taking a blinkered look at this egregious situation – both from a legal and law enforcement point of view, or a state administration viewpoint. Right now, in January 2026 the ANC-SACP is using selective prosecutions for propaganda purposes, and not to obtain any convictions in a court of law. The issue here is equality before the law and the question remains: why are only some law breakers in the lower ranks of South Africa’s security establshment prosecuted, and not law breakers in the ranks of the ANC-SACP and other political parties?
In its recent controversial case against Israel before the International Court of Justice, the ANC government tried to convey the impression that “equality before the law” nominally exists in South Africa, to the international community of states. Back in South Africa the TRC in 1996 certainly condemned gross human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the political spectrum. No formal system of prosecutions of all perpretrators was however put in place to resolve the untidy issues of prosecutions left unfinished by the TRC. Everything, including the Vula insurrection, was swept under the carpet.
All this begs the question from the National Prosecution Authorrity: Is there equality before the law in South Africa? Or not?
Henning van Aswegen
Editor
Nongqai Volume 17, Nr. 1.
Nongqai Editorial Board: Hennie Heymans, Willem Steenkamp, Sarie van Niekerk, Logan Govender, Henning van Aswegen, Helmoed Romer Heitman, Rene Geyer, Eben Mare.
Letters to the Editor / Briewe aan die Redaksie
Dear Editor
Operation Vula in 1990 and Vula today?
January 30, 2026
FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela signed the historic Groote Schuur Minute on 4 May 1990, explaining at a subsequent news conference how they were committed to “…a peaceful negotiation process” in South Africa. Two months later, the South African Police uncovered a secret underground cell of the ANC. Further investigations revealed it to be Operation Vula led by Mac Maharaj, Ronnie Kasrils, and Siphiwe Nyanda – all three prominent members of the ANC’s National Executive Committee.
Operation Vula involved the establishment of underground cells throughout the country to serve as a network for an armed takeover of the government. For this purpose, large quantities of weapons had already been illegally brought into the country and hidden in storage locations. Operation Vula was launched in Lusaka in 1986 under the supervision of ANC President Oliver Tambo, Joe Slovo, and Jacob Zuma, the ANC intelligence chief. In 1990, the ANC decided to continue with its’ Operation Vula, regardless of the negotiations and the peaceful promises of the Groote Schuur Agreement.
Operation Vula broke every agreement reached with the signing of the Groote Schuur Minute. The ANC sat with egg on its face, yet they demanded that ANC members like Maharaj and Nyanda, who were arrested, be granted amnesty and released. (The NP government later released them and the charges were withdrawn.)
The SA Police demanded that, if amnesty is to be granted to ANC-SACP members, the opportunity should be used to also grant amnesty to police members who were involved in the violent conflict over the years. The ANC had its back against the wall and could not refuse it.
Minister Kobie Coetsee shot it down. According to him, certain political interests must first be protected before a general amnesty could be put on the table. General Johan van der Merwe, police chief, later wrote: “It later became clear that the political interests to which Mr. Coetsee referred were simply about protecting the political future of government members. They did not care about the interests of the security forces at all.”
The result of this is that two elderly former members of the Security Police were convicted last week of murder that allegedly took place in 1987. Another 159 similar police cases are currently being investigated, according to Minister Kubayi.
Robert McBride was sentenced for three murders at Magoo’s Bar. Along with many ANC members, he was granted amnesty and is currently walking free.(He received amnesty long before the Truth and Reconciliation Committee was established)
More than twenty thousand ANC-SACP members were granted amnesty before the Truth Commission had the chance to evaluate their diverse statements and claims. These double standards infuriate me and are extremely unfair, because it is ignorant and inaccurate inequality before the law.
A few weeks ago Jacob Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile Zuma Sambudla, was forced to resign from Parliament because of her direct involvement in the recruitment of seventeen South Africans to participate in the Russia-Ukraine War. Jacob Zuma then tried to cover up his daughter’s actions by writing a letter to the Russian Minister of Defence, Andrey Belousov, claiming that the ‘seventeen’ were sent to Russia merely for “officers’ training.” Their mission was to learn from the world’s best so that they could one day return to Africa as capable leaders and steadfast champions of our common cause.”
Why “military training” in Russia, and for what “common cause?” It looks and smells like a new Operation Vula.
In July 2021, the police were unable to stop thousands of protesters in KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere from looting shops and killing people. The aim, it was explained, was to make the country ungovernable. Zuma-Sambudla was also involved in that.
Does anyone (naively) think that Operation Vula could be repeated, with better military training? Could the objective be to forcibly remove the current unpopular ANC government?
Does the government also see this matter as seriously as it seems to me?
What would happen if 17 Afriforum members in camouflage uniforms left for Russia for military training?
Dr Pieter Mulder
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- 1.
- Nongqai Volume 17, No 1. January 2026.
- 2.
Wolfgang Witschas
3.
Johan Mostert
4.
Book orders: E-mail henningvanaswegen55@gmail.com. R 400 + postage.
BoekbestellingsL Naledi-aanlyn.
5.
SAMIVIA
Mike Huxtable
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6.
Hennie Heymans
7.
Hennie Heymans
8.
Hennie Heymans
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10.
Wolfgang Witschas
11.
Hennie Heymans
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12.
Hennie Heymans / Col Lewis ‘Lew’ Gerber
13.
Logan Govender
14.
Herman Toerien
15.
Henning van Aswegen
Klik op die skakel Nongqai.org.
VOORBLAD | COVER
Our January 2026 cover is designed by Nongqai Emiritus member Dr Willem Steelkamp, symblosing the question ‘Is there equality before the law in South Africa?’
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Nongqai is ‘n opvoedkundige en kultuurhistoriese tydskrif wat met sy inhoud die geskiedenis vir ons nageslag bewaar.
Nongqai is an educational and cultural-historical electronic magazine that preserves history though its content.
nongqai.org
Nongqai Abstract
Nongqai, a magazine dedicated to preserving South Africa’s national security history, has undergone a restructuring, with Brigadier Hennie Heymans appointed as the new chief editor. Previously, Heymans served as executive editor, a role now taken over by a new appointee. Heymans is recognized for his significant contributions in creating a balanced narrative of the pre-1994 South African security forces, countering one-sided and negative portrayals that dominated post-1994 narratives. Through Nongqai, he revived a vital collection of source material, ensuring a broader perspective on the past that is indispensable for historians. The magazine has served as a platform for veterans to share their oral histories, preventing these accounts from being lost, and has published insightful articles and special editions focused on specific topics. Despite lacking publishing expertise and financial resources, Heymans single-handedly managed the magazine’s production for years, later joined by Dr. Willem Steenkamp and, more recently, Henning van Aswegen. Nongqai stands as a testament to Heymans’ selfless dedication to historical truth, driven by his loyalty to the South African Police and appreciation for the security forces’ role in stabilizing the country during challenging times. The magazine, guided by the motto “To preserve the past without living in it,” remains a trusted, unbiased source of historical documentation, reflecting Heymans’ integrity and passion.
Nongqai is herstruktureer en brig. Hennie Heymans (foto) is die nuwe hoofredakteur. Die jare het aangestap en die moeisame taak van uitvoerende redakteur wat hy vir soveel jare behartig het, sal voortaan deur ‘n nuwe uitvoerende redakteur hanteer word.
THE OWLS AND THE SHADOW WAR, VOLUME VIII
Directorate Special Tasks and Sub-Division Intelligence Operations
– West Front: DST1 and UNITA
For the first time a comprehensive guide to one of the most Top Secret operations of the SADF and Military Intelligence, namely the support for UNITA, is disclosed to the public. This operation continued for almost three decades, from 1975 to the end of 1992 under a series of secret code names. It is an account of one of the most remarkable and most unlikely military alliances in modern warfare. It is surprising because, despite many fundamental differences, the SADF and UNITA were able to work together in a synergistic way that resulted in a force multiplier of note. While the SADF was generally regarded being there to support a white minority government, UNITA was a black guerrilla liberation movement. And yet, their common enemy – the Communist-backed SWAPO and MPLA (both backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba) – proved to be stronger than any differences. This work for the first time discloses the origins of the alliance, the people involved, the strategic intent, the extent and nature of the support, and the major contribution made to the military success of the SADF during the Border War, as well as to countering the imperialistic ambitions of the Soviet Union – until an acceptable political settlement could be achieved in the region. This is a must have for any serious student of intelligence and military history who is interested in the Cold War confrontation which took place in Angola and northern Namibia between South Africa and its pro-Western allies, and the Communist-aligned SWAPO, MPLA, Cuban, East German and Soviet Forces.
Limited Edition Hard Cover Edition: R980-00
Standard Soft Cover Edition: R740-00
Courier costs: R120-00
For more information, banking details and orders, please contact Walter Volker and walter@mkhondo.com or at 082-851-6166.
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nongqai.org
DIE BURO IS BY IMPRIMATUR UITGEWERS, PRETORIA BESKIKBAAR: Mandy@Imprimatur.co.za
- Boekbeskrywing: DIE BURO
In Die Buro beskryf Henning van Aswegen die lewe en leed van Hendrik van den Bergh en sy tydgenote wat in 1963 Republikeinse Intelligensie (RI), en die Buro vir Staatsveiligheid in 1969 gestig het. Die Lang Generaal is ʼn historiese figuur wat onkreukbaar geglo het dat die Suid-Afrikaanse Kommunistiese Party (SAKP), nie oor die reg beskik het om Suid-Afrika se toekoms eiehandig te bepaal nie. Manne van Staal is nie populêre revisionistiese geskiedskrywing oor die Buro vir Staatsveiligheid nie; dit is die verhaal van wat agter die skerms gebeur het, en hoe hierdie historiese gebeure die verloop van die geskiedenis in Suid-Afrika beduidend beïnvloed het.
Henning van Aswegen is die skrywer van die topverkoper Spioenmeesters (Kraal Uitgewers), en ‘n intelligesnie historikus wat spioenasieverhale uit Suid-Afrika se geskiedenis beskryf en ontleed. Van sy ander boeke is The Daisy Spy Ring, The Spymasters of South Africa, en Russian Espionage in South Africa. Henning van Aswegen is ‘n afgetrede dosent in Intelligensiekunde aan die Nasionale Intelligensie Akademie (NIA), Pretoria.
Bestellings: henningvanaswegen55@gmail.com
by Henning van Aswegen | Oct 17, 2025 | BfSS NIS, BOOKS / BOEKE, BSV/DIE BURO/BfSS, Inligting- en/of Veiligheidsperspektief, RI/BfSS/NI/NIS/BSV
Die Buro vir Staatsveiligheid (BvS)/Nasionale Intelligensiediens (NI): ’n Unieke verskynsel in die Westerse intelligensiewêreld Abstrak: Buro vir Staatsveiligheid, BSV, Intelligensiewetenskap in Suid-Afrika, Intelligensie, Nasionale Intelligensiediens…
DIE BURO is by die skrywer bestelbaar: henningvanaswegen55@gmail.com.
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Nongqai.org
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KORRLEKOPPE
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