Former apartheid-era law and order minister Adriaan Vlok died in hospital during the early hours of Sunday.
Family spokesperson Peet Bothma said in a statement 85-year-old Vlok was admitted to the Unitas Hospital in Centurion.
“It is with great sorrow that the family announces that Adriaan Vlok, former minister of law and order and correctional services, died early this morning after a short sick bed in the Unitas Hospital in Centurion. He was 85 years old.
“He is survived by his wife Antoinette, three children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.”
Bothma said funeral arrangements would be announced shortly.
According to the Restorative Justice Centre, Vlok was minister of law and order from 1986 to 1991, during the final years of apartheid.
“His position as minister became especially controversial after 1990 during the negotiations to end apartheid, with the ANC insisting on his dismissal. President FW de Klerk responded by moving him to a less controversial post as minister of correctional services in July 1991.
“In 1999, Vlok was granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) — the sole cabinet minister to have admitted committing crimes, including the bombing of the headquarters of the South African Council of Churches at Khotso House, and the Cosatu trade union headquarters.
“In mid-2006, Vlok came forward with public apologies for a number of acts that he had not disclosed to the TRC, and for which he could therefore be prosecuted.
“In a dramatic gesture, he washed the feet of Frank Chikane who, as secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches, had been targeted by Vlok for assassination. Subsequently, he washed the feet of the ten widows and mothers of the 'Mamelodi 10', a group of anti-apartheid activists who had been lured to their death by a police informant,” the centre stated on its website.
In 2007, Vlok and three others were spared jail when they were given a suspended sentence for trying to kill Chikane.
In 2014 he publicly called for more apartheid era perpetrators to come forward and apologise for their actions.
In 2015 he started and ran a child-feeding charity named Feed a Child.
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Apartheid-era minister Adriaan Vlok has died
Image: via Facebook
Former apartheid-era law and order minister Adriaan Vlok died in hospital during the early hours of Sunday.
Family spokesperson Peet Bothma said in a statement 85-year-old Vlok was admitted to the Unitas Hospital in Centurion.
“It is with great sorrow that the family announces that Adriaan Vlok, former minister of law and order and correctional services, died early this morning after a short sick bed in the Unitas Hospital in Centurion. He was 85 years old.
“He is survived by his wife Antoinette, three children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.”
Bothma said funeral arrangements would be announced shortly.
According to the Restorative Justice Centre, Vlok was minister of law and order from 1986 to 1991, during the final years of apartheid.
“His position as minister became especially controversial after 1990 during the negotiations to end apartheid, with the ANC insisting on his dismissal. President FW de Klerk responded by moving him to a less controversial post as minister of correctional services in July 1991.
“In 1999, Vlok was granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) — the sole cabinet minister to have admitted committing crimes, including the bombing of the headquarters of the South African Council of Churches at Khotso House, and the Cosatu trade union headquarters.
“In mid-2006, Vlok came forward with public apologies for a number of acts that he had not disclosed to the TRC, and for which he could therefore be prosecuted.
“In a dramatic gesture, he washed the feet of Frank Chikane who, as secretary-general of the South African Council of Churches, had been targeted by Vlok for assassination. Subsequently, he washed the feet of the ten widows and mothers of the 'Mamelodi 10', a group of anti-apartheid activists who had been lured to their death by a police informant,” the centre stated on its website.
In 2007, Vlok and three others were spared jail when they were given a suspended sentence for trying to kill Chikane.
In 2014 he publicly called for more apartheid era perpetrators to come forward and apologise for their actions.
In 2015 he started and ran a child-feeding charity named Feed a Child.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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