Several top ANC leaders could be charged for allowing attacks on civilians during the liberation struggle, if the National Prosecuting Authority insisted on pursuing its case against apartheid law and order minister Adriaan Vlok, civil rights union AfriForum said on Monday.
The National Prosecuting Authority's recent decision to charge Vlok, former police commissioner Johann van der Merwe and three other senior apartheid police officers for the attempted murder of former anti-apartheid activist, now director-general, Frank Chikane had "opened a can of worms".
AfriForum said that if the National Prosecuting Authority insisted on charging Vlok and the others, then it would demand that it also charge those "on the other side" who had committed atrocities against civilians.
While AfriForum's Chief Executive Officer Kallie Kriel refused to reveal which ANC leaders the organisation would want charged, it is thought the 15 leaders mentioned include President Thabo Mbeki, Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils, Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan and Social Security Minister Zola Skweyiya who, according to Truth and Reconciliation Committee submissions, had been part of the ANC's top decision-making structures between 1985 and 1990.
Dirk van Eck, who lost his wife and two children in a 1985 landmine explosion in the then Northern Transvaal, supported Kriel's argument.
Van Eck, who had previously testified before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, said he had been prepared to forgive and forget, but not if the government started selectively prosecuting offenders.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission records indicate that, while Van Eck initially opposed granting amnesty to those directly responsible for the blast - Mthetheleli Mncube, Mzondeleli Nondula and Jabulani Mbuli - he later dropped this opposition and the three were given amnesty by the committee which found that the operation had been sanctioned by the ANC.
Van Eck said he was prepared to sacrifice his revenge for the sake of the county's unity and future.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi confirmed on Monday that Vlok, Van der Merwe and the others would be prosecuted on August 17 for conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.
He denied rumours that Vlok and the others had agreed on a plea bargain with the national Prosecuting Authority.
Lesufi denied having received a letter from AfriForum and also denied that the National Prosecuting Authority was only targeting former apartheid security force personnel, stating that it was looking at hundreds of investigations which would affect both sides of the anti-apartheid struggle.