This article explores the fraught intersection of policing and politics in South African history, tracing a cycle of duty, disloyalty, and moral reckoning from World War II through the democratic transition of the 1990s. It highlights the roles of key Security Branch officers under the Smuts government, including covert operatives like Captain Jan Taillard, and reflects on the ideological tensions that shaped their careers. Through the lens of Major GE Diedericks’ internment of BJ Vorster and the later abandonment of the South African Police during CODESA negotiations, the narrative examines how political shifts repeatedly left loyal officers vulnerable. The article argues for a retrospective moral accounting of the policeman’s role, invoking the Nuremberg Principles and emphasizing the need to honour integrity amid political storms. It concludes with reflections on South Africa’s intelligence community and the enduring lessons of service, sacrifice, and historical memory.
VAN ROOKSPORE IN DIE LUG TOT REFLEKSIE OP DIE LEUNSTOEL - ’n Persoonlike Bydrae tot die Debat oor Geregtigheid en Verantwoording - polisiegeskiedenis 1964 - 1993.
Parade Inspections in the Natal Mounted Police, Natal Police, and South African Police were regular features in a policeman's life. Kit had to be clean and was inspected. Official handbooks had to amended and up to date.
ABSTRACT: S A Police Security Branch Series Part 4 - the fourth extract from NONGQAI’s eBook on the South African Police Security Branch and the armed struggle launched by the SACP/ANC-alliance. This chapter explores who and what the
Contemporary Police History / Eietydse Polisiegeskiedenis
ABSTRACT: South African Police a case of so few owed so much yet scorned; an analysis of how tiny the South African Police force in reality was by international standards, also given the vast territory they had to cover and their onerous ne
"QUIET COUP D'ETAT" AGAINST PM JOHN VORSTER - Nongqai BLOG
Revealing article by John Fullerton in NOW! magazine, Oct 1979, on the "quiet coup d'etat" against PM John Vorster, which he attributes to generals of the SADF
Third extract from NONGQAI’s eBook on the South African Police Security Branch and the armed struggle launched by the SACP/ANC-alliance. This episode explains the complex history of South Africa’s internal conflict. Was “Apartheid” South Africa uniquely racist, in the world colonial context? What was the role of white South Africa’s security and intelligence community in the transition to a non-racial democracy.
