Friday, October 7, 2016

How Safe Is Our Brother? - Part 14

How do I continue telling the story behind the story after I have received a phone call warning me that lives are in danger because of my writing?  How do I still tell my story?  I have a need to put that stressful period in perspective, as all humans do, so that we can move on with our lives.  No one I know who knew him personally and were very good friends of his has had any real contact with him.  This is not the behaviour of the man I got to know through my years of research and my years of listening/reading stories from men and women via my inbox.  Something is very, very wrong.  Why have we not been told what the parole conditions are?  Is it because he is not actually on parole and that he is still under guard and not free?  I know that the people who read my blog are not stupid and I also know that you are thinking what I am thinking.  How do we keep our brother safe?   What kind of freedom does he have when he is guarded 24 hours a day by four guards?  How can he become de-institutionalised under those conditions?  How does he become a social being again when he is not allowed to do as he wants?  Why is he invited to book launches only to be sent away under guard?  The correct ending to this story would have been the MFP that was planned for his release.  My dear friends, where do we go from here? Where do I go from here?  I was once told by a police commissioner that the best way to stay safe was to become well-known.  Now do I just keep my mouth shut and pray that “they” don’t hurt my friends?  Or do we pick up the drum and start drumming again?? 

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Unlucky Part 13 on EdK

Parole??
My hands shake as I write this after receiving a phone call from someone living in another country.  I am angry that so many people have been threatened with death because of what I write.  It does not matter what country you live in, your life is in danger if you tramp on the wrong toes.  People disappear, they commit suicide, they have accidents.  What are “they” afraid of?  Why are “they” afraid of me telling the story behind the story?  I have only told the truth and still, I am not even a quarter of the way through what really happened.
Why don’t “they” threaten me?  When people are threatened with death, one has to sit up and take things seriously.  I am also very angry that the threats are made to those I care about and not to me.  Why do they not tell me to stop writing?  Eugene is not free and for his sake and the sake of those I love, I will no longer be telling the story behind the story. I have been warned to stop.  I will stop on this subject, but my fuck, I am angry.  Those who dripped poison into Eugene’s ears – their poison will evaporate; he never will know the truth about me either.    The reason the original site was shut down so quickly overnight is because Eugene (I could hear JK in the background) told me to shut it down immediately.  My request to give it a week got a “no” answer. That phone call was not a very ‘nice’ phone call. Poison can go everywhere. Hence, the quickest thing we could do was change the name and delete everything ever said about Eugene.  And now, I have to shut my mouth on this issue.  May God protect Eugene and all those who have been threatened.  I am truly silenced on this issue now. 

EUGENE DE KOCK - Part 12

Eugene, Vos and Conrad 
From here on out, Conrad was the real hero.  He took my calls, he kept in touch with me and he found EdK and facilitated his first meeting with his family.  This photo was taken on that day.  PP was also there but from my informant, she walked around smoking and was not invited into the circle of the family.  Even at this stage, Elmarie de Kock was giving me some real awful inbox messages.   I could not understand where the hostility was coming from.  From her point of view only PP was allowed into the family circle and I was to leave them all alone.  Can you imagine if I had walked when I first started getting her vicious inbox messages.  Nothing more would have been done and Conrad would not have been our hero.  
Conrad Kruger wrote this to Ben on 13 May, 2015 at 1:27AM.
Beste Ben
Hier gou 'n "update" dat jy weet wat my beplanning is:
1. Die afspraak met Eugene (en Regter vd Merwe) is bevestig vir Sondag;
2. Ek sal 'n geseëlde koevert met dokumente en insluitend jou e-pos aan
Eugene oorhandig;
3. Ek sal deur Adv Jaap Cilliers uitvind oor Adv Roelof du Plessis se
"rekening". Hul sit in dieselfde gebou;
4. Ek het met Piet Croucamp gepraat oor die voertuig situasie (Hannelie het
dit aan my genoem dat Eugene blykbaar 'n voertuig gaan benodig), sy
kommentaar was dat Eugene se lisensie verval het en ook as gevolg van sy
oogoperasies dit nie nou 'n prioriteit is nie en dat hy geneem word waar hy
wil gaan.
5. Ek sal die brief van Julian Knight ook met hom bespreek, of as ek nie
alleen tyd met hom kry nie, ten minste 'n afskrif in die koevert sit.
Lekker vlieg en groetnis
Conrad
My email to Ben on the 13 May was:
I have taken not one penny or enriched myself from my association with this cause in any way. 
The unpleasant character assassination via TM, JK, Annemarie Jansen and Elmarie de Kock of me is totally unacceptable.  (The Save Dianne Lang fund raising initiative was done without my knowledge and I had no access to that page – I did however, every week, send a list of donations through to Maria Bezuidenhout).
Jim Hooper paid 125 pounds into my UK account which I used to purchase another air purifier for my room that has to be sterile if I am not to pick up a germ.   What this has got to do with Anemari Jansen is beyond me.  
Apart from you, the above, Gert Fouche and the Balsak fonds - no one has donated much other than the first month when I received a few thousand rand in R100 donations.   
Since a bone marrow transplant is no longer possible due to a failed bone marrow and immune system, perhaps the Save Dianne Lang group should be closed.  The immune cell donor implants every 2nd week can keep me alive another 2 years IF I do not pick up a germ.  That is the latest news on my health. (I am now officially the longest living person on replacement IVIG)
Sure, we don't have money and all my savings have been swallowed up with medical bills.  We truly live from hand to mouth and the money that has been given to me has made a huge difference to the quality of life.  I would not have the air purifiers, the oxygen cylinders, the wheelchair or the medication that alleviates the worst pain if it were not for the generosity of people.  I have even been able to have a carer to help me bath, change linen etc. three times a week.   And I am deeply grateful for the gifts. 
However, the very last thing I would have wanted is to be blamed for using EdK as a way of making myself rich.  I find the very suggestion nauseating.  
Perhaps it is time for me to bow out gracefully - I have no regrets about fighting for Eugene.  I have done all I could and I know that I have not benefitted by one penny through this cause of EdK and his freedom. 
I am deeply saddened by the character assassination of me via TM, JK, Anemarie Jansen and Elmarie de Kock. 
Always with loyalty to you Ben
With love MC xxxx 

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

#Ibaredmychest


I am a contributor in the book #Ibaredmychest. 

 Here is a snippet of what my chapter is like: After a year a friend took me to a shop that specialised in prosthetics for mastectomies. I walked out that shop with my shoulders back and the bra and prosthetics against my skin. Suddenly I felt like a female again. I love the fact that my clothes fit me better; I love the fact that my stomach looks smaller but I hate those prosthetic things. For some reason I can’t stand to look at them. They are jelly-like wobbly bits of silicone. Imagine a man ripping off your bra in the heat of passion and one boob plops on the ground and then the other plops on the other side. I think I will do it with the bra on…If I ever get lucky again.  For more info on the 21 women from 21 countries who have contributed to this book, click on the link below: 

 http://bit.ly/BareChestPressKit

Monday, October 3, 2016

EUGENE DE KOCK - Part 11

Picture taken while still in prison but helping prosecutors (illegal photo)
Eugene was missing !!!! And no one knew where he was, where he had gone to; his family had not heard from him and his clothing was still in his cell.  Three months went by and still no one knew where he was.  Obviously I was beside myself with worry because it could quite easily have been that he had been taken out and his lawyer, JK, did not even know where his client was.  It was then that I contacted Conrad.  Most of my dealings with Conrad was by mobile phone while Ben and Conrad Kruger communicated via email.
Apart from making my daily phone call and my daily email to the presidency, I was also getting myself involved in anything that I thought might help Eugene in any way.  I remember phoning and then writing to the Shadow Minister of Correctional Services.  He was a total waste of time, telling me that the law had to take its course and there was nothing he could do.  I found that a pathetic excuse for a Member of Parliament.  My frustration level was beyond description.  No one seemed to be taking me seriously.  PP would also not respond when I tried to friend her on FB (she blocked me) or inboxing her.
I hunted down Adriaan Vlok and got his home telephone number.  I phoned him a couple of times, but the first phone call is stuck in my memory.  When I asked him if he could do anything  to help Eugene, he told me that Eugene could rot in jail – quick off the mark, I said that I hoped HE rotted in hell.  Such a heated argument I realized would not assist me in getting information on Eugene so the following evening, putting my pride in my pocket, I played the Christian role – the one that Adriaan played.  I reminded him about washing the feet of Frank Chikane and then asked if he thought that Eugene too could not be given a second chance.  All I got from him was a promise to pray for Eugene.  I felt like saying that his prayers were too poisonous, but left it at that.  Not even my contact in DCS knew where he had gone to other than telling me that 3 men took him out of his cell and never returned him.  All Eugene's belonging were still in his cell. Trying to deal with TM was a waste of time.  He knew nothing other than the fact that he still held our t-shirts.  His promises were pie crusts, melting in the mouth before taking a bite.  It was at this point that I found out that he had only recently been visiting EdK and NOT since he had been in prison as the media wrote.    

Sunday, October 2, 2016

#Ibaredmychest

This is so much more than just a book.  It is a social movement started by 21 unstoppable women with 21 chapters from 21 countries and will be launched on 21 November - please share. 

EUGENE DE KOCK - Part 10


Email to James, Ben and Dewalt
22/04/2015
Gentlemen - it was never about the money - I used that to get the info we wanted out of him. (info I wanted out of JK).  All I asked him was "How much would it cost for you to get EdK out on parole tomorrow"  JK thinks I am stupid and I prefer to keep it that way. 
I read that you say it is not prudent to change lawyers now Ben.  However, there is no harm with two or three other clear thinking lawyers having a look and giving another opinion. (and they are not charging us/me)  I will revert with the responses later today.  In the meantime let us see if JK allows me to speak to EdK at 4.30pm today as promised.  A few  members have asked me where they can pay money in for E.  I gave them  the original account that Miempie gave. xxx
(This is what used to piss me off with James Marx – he was always the echo of Ben.  If Ben said jump, Marx would do or say the exact same thing.  What use was he really?  He would even delete posts of mine, without even telling me the reason.  I felt that he had absolutely no respect for my intelligence.  He pissed me off regularly)
On 21 April 2015 at 19:19, James Marx wrote:
I agree with Ben. JK must get his payment from the state as E is still in their custody and not on parole as stated by the minister. As far as anyone is concerned there is no money for legal costs. (and I rest my case about Marx)
On 21 April 2015 at 15:34, Dianne Lang  wrote:
“I think he knows his costs are excessive and that is why he is prepared to negotiate depending on how much cash we have - which I will tell him we have fuck all but in a really nice way.  Expecting a call from him and from the other lawyer.   The Regshulp Raad is only available before you go to court and not after the event.   Are you satisfied that the money he received was actually from us or did it come out of Piet's pocket as is assumed by JK”. 
Now I realized we were dealing with a crooked lawyer (asking for money when he had said he would do it for nothing in exchange for the media coverage he would get) and secondly, we also now knew that the advocate was not charging us either.   The phone call that JK promised me that EdK would make from his office never happened.   I was right about JK being slack and no one knew that he was also representing Clive Derby-Lewis at the same time.  For sure, EdK did not know that.  What kind of lawyer were we dealing with?  Between visits from ANC to my bedroom, and phoning the presidency daily and writing letters, I was looking for a good lawyer that could take over from JK.  I did not know how I would do that without EdK’s knowledge but I knew I would find a way.
Back at the prison, Eugene got to see the Mama family which got a lot of coverage in the media – this being one of the conditions why Eugene’s parole had been denied.  The Correctional services had not completed the necessary forms of those victims that Eugene had seen, and JK did not check his papers before going to court.  Eugene had to spend more months in prison because the Department of Correctional Services and JK had not done their jobs properly.
Our small, but effective Operation Free EdK was itching to go, but we decided to wait until the next hearing.  If Eugene did not get parole, we were going to take him out ourselves.  Every eventuality was in place. (No one knew of this – not even Ben).  I think if he had known he would have flown to SA to put masking tape over my mouth.
I was also having financial problems that came with my health issues during this time, and Jim Hooper sent me some money to use for myself for medications.  How or who started the rumour that I was piggy backing on Eugene to make money for myself, who knows?  But I had already enough enemies in PP, JK and TM for any one of them to start this shit.   I spoke to our alternative lawyer, Conrad Kruger, who never asked for a penny and he took over.  We used Eugene’s brother, Vos, as the conduit to enter into the fray to find out about Eugene.  The silence surrounding Eugene was ominous.   Through one of my sources I heard that persons unknown had removed Eugene from his cell three days before the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha Judge withheld parole for Derby-Lewis but gave Eugene de Kock parole.   I therefore know the outcome of the decision but even this was not shared with anyone.  This is how I knew “The train has left the station”.   It was therefore no news to me that parole had been granted.
However, when no one heard from Eugene, and I had contacted TM and JK and they had not heard, my mind did summersaults faster than my stomach.  How easy it would have been to take him out?  Both TM and JK placated me with “he is out on parole” so there is no need for any more lobbying.  I was frightened for his safety and a few days later I again contacted JK to find out where exactly Eugene was and who were the people who had removed him from his cell three days before he was officially given parole.  He did not know which means that he was not on top of the case.  With my urging, he agreed to try to find his client.  Well, what do you know – straight to the media it went (his payment).  He was given parole on the 20 January and yet, not one person knew where he was.  By March, I was beside myself with worry and got hold of JK to do something about it immediately.   He seemed quite calm and unperturbed but he did make sure that his name was again in the newspapers.

CRIME & COURTS / 20 March 2015, 07:52am
Louise Flanagan
Johannesburg - Eugene de Kock is out of jail but still in custody. In a situation reminiscent of apartheid-era activity, De Kock has apparently been secretly handed over to the security forces for indefinite detention.Now his lawyer is planning to use a legal weapon not much used since the apartheid era’s mass detentions – a writ of habeas corpus, which is a demand to the authorities to produce a missing person in court so that the court can decide whether his continued detention is legal.Eugene de Kock's lawyer is still trying to find him. (Great comfort from the lawyer JK)This week, the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services, the State Security Agency and the SAPS would not talk about what has happened to De Kock.His Pretoria lawyer, Julian Knight, doesn’t know where he is but has received instructions from him, asking for help.“We are instructed by our client that, to date, he has not been released from custody and has not been handed over to Community Corrections to commence his parole.
“Our client also advises us that he is currently being held against his will,” Knight wrote to Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha on Tuesday.
Knight demanded that De Kock be handed over immediately to the Department of Correctional Services’ Community Corrections section, which oversees parolees, given his parole conditions, and that he be released on parole.
“Should you and your department fail to accede to this request, we hold instructions to proceed to court on the basis of urgency for a writ of habeas corpus,” Knight said in his letter.
It is understood that De Kock is being held by security services in a house on the pretext of an undefined threat against him, with no indication of a release date.Protective custody normally requires the consent of the person involved.“They said initially that he was in protective custody because of a so-called plot against him,” Knight told The Star.
“His cell is locked with all his belongings still inside. This is not indicative of a person released on parole… All the paperwork at the prison indicates that he is in the care, custody and control of the SAPS; they have signed responsibility for him.”
While in jail, De Kock has routinely helped the prosecution services with attempts to resolve cases of those who went missing during the apartheid era.
De Kock is a former police officer who commanded the apartheid police hit squad based at Vlakplaas.He was sentenced in October 1996 to two life sentences plus 212 years for offences including murder.On January 30, Masutha announced at a public briefing that he had approved De Kock’s parole.This followed various parole applications by De Kock and court action demanding a decision from the minister. “In the interests of nation building and reconciliation, I have decided to place Mr De Kock on parole,” Masutha said at the time. “He has requested that the actual date and conditions of his release should not be made public. I have acceded to this request.” The decision about keeping De Kock’s release details secret appears to have made the secret handover possible. It is believed he was handed over before the minister’s announcement on his parole. The SAPS did not respond to requests for comment on whether De Kock was in its custody.The State Security Agency referred all queries to Correctional Services.The Ministry of Correctional Services would not comment either.“We have acceded to Mr De Kock’s plea to not give details of his release, so no media enquiries will be entertained on his release except queries on the minister’s decision on his parole,” said ministry spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga.
Now there were rumours that I was using Eugene to feather my own nest.  I was very upset about it.  Not one penny had I taken for myself and it had in fact, not only cost me time over many years, but had also cost me in postage etc.  And on top of all that, I had a niece of Eugene’s giving me a tough time via inbox because she SO LOVED pp and “I had vokol te doen met die familie”.  I wondered where the hell she had been all those years.    I have a big mouth but a very sensitive heart so her bashing me and on top of that being accused of taking money for Eugene for my own use was very soul-destroying for me.  I remember crying bucket loads of tears because of that.  It was during one of these very tearful phone calls that Hannelie  told me about Conrad Kruger.   I even remember that Hannelie gave me some airtime and that we talked while I was in hospital in Bloemfontein.  Three months after his release on parole, no one had heard from Eugene, not even his brother, Vos. 
Conrad said he would take on the case and represent Vos, and in that way, find where Eugene was without JK getting his cock in a knot.  Of course, I was also upset about being accused of taking money meant for Eugene.