Whistle-blower still has nightmares

Ari Danikas was just 17 when he arrived in South Africa in November 1988 from Greece. At first he worked in a pawn shop to pay for his studies, then opened his own electronics store, selling affordable computers he had built. Many of his customers were policemen, including the commander of the Cato Manor unit, Major-General Johan Booysen, whom he met in 1998.

Booysen's crack division, later renamed the organised crime unit, focused on priority cases, including cash-in-transit hijacking, cop killings and political assassinations.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Danikas's brother, cousin and uncle had all been policemen in Greece and the young man wanted to continue the tradition. Booysen helped him to become a reservist and took him into his unit.

Soon, Danikas was doing "elite training" - including courses at a recce camp - and taking part in major police operations. It was a childhood fantasy come true. "I loved the action, the guns, the training - everything," he says.

And Danikas informed the unit when stolen goods, especially laptops, were brought to his shop - including one that had been taken from Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba.

He received a raft of awards and commendation letters, including some from Booysen, who recommended him for promotion.

He became close to Booysen's family and the police officer and his wife even stayed at the Danikas country home outside Athens and toured the Greek islands and Europe with him.

Booysen would often ask Danikas to accompany him to crime scenes, usually after members of the unit had shot or wounded suspects. "I was Booysen's friend, so they had to accept me."

Today the immigrant struggles to come to terms with his silence in the face of atrocities committed by people he came to know as friends - and their justifications ring hollow.

'Booysen's argument was that the justice system had failed South Africa, which was in the grip of a crime epidemic. The police arrested violent criminals and the courts put them back on the streets to kill again.

"Johan Booysen always said: 'We get the job done - we solve crimes.' What he really meant was: 'We kill the suspects.'

"The propaganda was always: these guys will kill us or kill innocent women and children, so why waste taxpayers' money taking them to hospital to get fixed?"

Danikas says his relationship with Booysen began to deteriorate after Easter 2007, when he was forced to watch a suspect, who had been shot by members of the unit, die gurgling in his own blood.

In August 2008 Booysen suspended Danikas from the reservists, accusing him of speaking to the media without authorisation.

Danikas feared his number was up and fled to Greece with his wife.

The couple were so afraid they would be killed that they did not even tell his wife's parents.

"As we took off, I drank three glasses of scotch. I was terrified," he says. "When I arrived in Greece I kissed the ground. I felt safe for the first time in years."

Booysen concedes he was a "close friend" of Danikas, but this week he described his former comrade as "deranged".

Danikas says Booysen's attempt to discredit him is not unexpected, but he is relieved to get the horrors he claims to have witnessed off his chest.

He says he still has nightmares about his stint as a reservist with the unit. "When I close my eyes I see brains, blood spatters, people crying. I sleep with a hunting rifle next to my bed.

"In my sleep I see people trying to shoot me. Once these people are in jail, there will be closure for the victims and closure for me," he says. "Then perhaps I can get on with my life."