| Vlakplaas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Country | South Africa |
| Coordinates | 25°49′01.3″S28°01′39.6″E / 25.817028°S 28.027667°E /-25.817028; 28.027667 |
| Area | 100 hectares |
| Section C1 of theSecurity Branch | |
|---|---|
| "Vlakplaas" | |
 | |
| Active | 1979–1993 |
| Country | South Africa |
| Type | Counterinsurgency unit, paramilitarydeath squad |
| Part of | Security Branch of theSouth African Police |
| Headquarters | Vlakplaas,Gauteng 25°49′01.3″S28°01′39.6″E / 25.817028°S 28.027667°E /-25.817028; 28.027667 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
|
Vlakplaas (anAfrikaans term meaning "flat farm") is a farm 20 km west ofPretoria that served as the headquarters ofcounterinsurgency unit C1 (later called C10)[1][2][3] of theSecurity Branch of theapartheid-eraSouth 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 fifteenaskaris 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 ofGriffiths 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]
The land at Vlakplaas was bought by the police in 1979 and later transferred to the national Department of Public Works. When the police vacated the farm in the mid-1990s, it was left in the hands of a caretaker, named Louis Steyn.[9] In 2001, the government held a traditional healing ceremony at the farm and announced its intention to transfer the land to the Department of Arts and Culture, in order to turn it into a museum. However, Steyn successfully challenged his eviction in the High Court.[9]
In August 2007, theDepartment of Science and Technology announced that the farm would be repurposed as a centre for healing. The centre would conduct research into plants used intraditional medicine, and promote collaboration between practitioners of westernmedicine andtraditional healers.[10] However, years later, Steyn continued to inhabit the farm. He left in 2012, passing the land on to friends, who in turn passed it on to a Christian ministry, Kuriaké, which used it to establish an addiction rehabilitation centre. The ministry was evicted in June 2014, at which point the government planned to transfer it to the Department of Arts and Culture for use as a heritage site.[9]
C1 was commanded by:[1][6][11]
25°49′3.01″S28°1′41.44″E / 25.8175028°S 28.0281778°E /-25.8175028; 28.0281778
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