Paul Erasmus was a South African Security Police officer who testified to the Goldstone Commission, [1] and later the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about police dirty tricks and violence during the apartheid era. [2] This testimony revealed the existence of a unit in the Security Police called STRATCOM (Strategic Communications) that specialised in misinformation and propaganda against opponents of the regime. [3] [4] Erasmus also testified on the police efforts to discredit Winnie Madikizela-Mandela by spreading false rumours about sexual affairs and drug use. [5] [6]
Before joining STRATCOM, Erasmus had served in the counter-insurgency campaign in Namibia, as part of the Koevoet police unit. [7]
Erasmus appears in a documentary, Stopping the Music: the Roger Lucey Story, in which he explains Stratcom's campaign against South African folk rock guitarist Roger Lucey, which led to banning and disruption of gigs, confiscation of records, and an overzealous campaign against Shifty Records and the South African music industry in general. Erasmus's revelations were published in a biography, which was then extracted by an article in the Mail & Guardian.
Erasmus was a feared interrogator. His methods of persuasion included burning, choking, beating, drowning, and administering electric shocks. [8]
Foot Soldier for Apartheid, an unpublished manuscript, has extracts available online. [9] [10]
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and selected some for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003, and from 2009 until her death, and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) political party, she served on the ANC's National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League. Madikizela-Mandela was known to her supporters as the "Mother of the Nation".
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