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The Cradock Four Memorial garden.
High ranking officials in the apartheid police, Gerrit Erasmus and Izak “Krappies” Engelbrecht, both took the stand at the Gqeberha High Court in the re-opened Cradock Four Inquest.
They both denied all involvement in the 1985 killings of Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto.
Erasmus and Engelbrecht joined the proceedings virtually.
In these same transcripts, Engelbreght was accused of being a “sweeper” who covered up the crimes committed by the security police.
Eighty-nine-year-old Gerrit Erasmus, a former major general, told the court he knew nothing about the plans to kill the activists.
He said he had left the Eastern Cape before the murders and was not involved in any operations targeting Goniwe.
Erasmus, who frequently struggled to recall details under questioning by Cradock community advocate, Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, denied claims made by former officer, Jaap van Jaarsveld, who testified at the TRC that he reported surveillance findings on Goniwe directly to him.
Ngcukaitobi: “I put it to you, a commanding officer in charge of giving orders and keeping men in line, did you not give the order to have Goniwe’s home scoped for killing?””
Erasmus: “No, my lady, I did not. Those were blatant lies made against me by Jaap van Jaarsveld. I wasn’t even in the Eastern Cape at the time of their killing.”
Ngcukaitobi also challenged Erasmus’ testimony, saying his repeated memory lapses were not credible.
Later, Engelbrecht took the stand, firmly rejecting allegations made by Eugene de Kock that he helped cover up the killings by destroying traffic fines that could link officers to the crime.
“I deny that emphatically. This is all nonsense and lies made up by Eugene de Kock. I never said those things. I never did those things. No one reported anything to me. I wasn’t there. I was in National Command,” said Engelbrecht.
Proceedings resume tomorrow,with former Security Branch officer Joffel van der Westhuizen expected to testify.
Van Der Westhuizen is said to be responsible for the signal ordering of the Goniwe’s “permanent removal.”
Cradock Four Inquest | 22 October 2025:
