For much of its time in power, the National Party government was shored up by the direct involvement of its security forces. Ordinary citizens had no idea that their taxes were being used to fund unorthodox and even illegal operations, ranging from international propaganda campaigns to local death squads. From the dreaded Security Branch, the sinister Civil Cooperation Bureau, the aptly named BOSS and the ubiquitous front companies set up to bypass an arms embargo and economic sanctions, South Africa was run by stealth. It was the government’s Total Strategy against the enemy’s Total Onslaught. A handful of intrepid journalists began the process of uncovering the truth about apartheid, but despite their dedication and the later efforts of the Truth and Reconciliation...
De Wet Potgieter has been a reporter for 38 prolific years, working in English (Sunday Times) and Afrikaans (Beeld), and both in print and television. He is the author of Contraband – South Africa and the Illegal Trade in Ivory and Rhino Horn, Total Onslaught and The Eleventh Hour.
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