Project name: AL3283
Date of interview: 8 December 2009
Location of interview: Rietfontein, Pretoria
Language/s of interview: Afrikaans
Length of interview: 2 minutes 4 seconds
Name of Interviewer: De Wet Potgieter
Name of interviewee/s: Inspector Joppie van Staden
Name of translator (if any): De Wet Potgieter
Name of transcriber:
Notes on access and use (if any):
Audio file name/s of interview: AL3283_PTA_VANSTADENJOPPIE_20091208_1
De Wet Ek sit hier en gesels met inspekteur Joppie van Staden. Dis vandag Dinsdag 8 Desember 2009. Joppie, jy was vir jare by die onluste-polisie voordat jy na die bomopruimingseenheid toe gegaan het. Watter jare was jy by die onlusteenheid gewees.
Joppie Van 1980 tot middel 1990.
De Wet Vertel ons ʼn bietjie die omstandighede, want julle is gewoonlik, julle was aan die skerppunt gewees van waar daar betogings was, ANC betogings was daai jare en opstande. Vertel ons bietjie hoe het julle dit hanteer en hoe was van die mense wat oortreders was, behandel.
Joppie 1987, begin 1987 was ek in die kollege ons het omtrent Maart/April was daai opstande gewees waar hulle die treine so gebrand het in Joburg. Ons was nog studemte toe was ons al ontplooi soontoe. Nouja, daar was nie, dit was nog in die Apartheids-era gewees en hulle het nog nie hierdie menseregte-kak gehad nie. Daar het ons twee maande daar in Johannesburg op die ou John Vorster gebly, gewerk by Soweto self die meeste van die tyd, op die treine gery en dan het ons as hulle ʼn hand by ʼn treinvenster uitsteek en ons tussen die waens gestaan en met die sambokke ingelê. Plekke derursoek en dit was meestal die ANC wat die oproer veroorsaak het. Ons het hulle baie daar geslaan want daar was daai tyd nog soveel dinge oor die martelding gewees nie
Project name: AL3283
Date of interview: 8 December 2009
Location of interview: Rietfontein, Pretoria
Language/s of interview: Afrikaans
Length of interview: 2 minutes 4 seconds
Name of Interviewer: De Wet Potgieter
Name of interviewee/s: Inspector Joppie van Staden
Name of translator (if any): De Wet Potgieter
Name of transcriber:
Notes on access and use (if any):
Audio file name/s of interview: AL3283_PTA_VANSTADENJOPPIE_20091208_1
De Wet It is Tuesday, 8 December 2009, Pretoria, and I am sitting here with Inspector Joppie van Staden, retired policeman. From his student days in the police, he was firstly attached to the riot squad, stationed at Unit 19 and thereafter promoted to an inspector with the bomb disposal unit.
Now, Joppie, I would like to talk to you about the days at the riot squad, Unit 19, it were difficult days in the eighties when the ANC regularly staged riots and upheavals and so on, you guys were the sharp edge of the police to quell these unrest.
Tell us under what circumstances these culprits were treated. Those were tough days. Over to you.
Joppie In 1987, I was during that first semester in the police college, did a course in riot control and while we were still merely students under training, we were posted out to Johannesburg during the time that people were burning trains.
We were in Johannesburg for two months and based at the old John Vorster Square and were working most of the times shifts in Soweto, searched suspects and we knew it all were part of an ANC strategy. We showed no mercy to the people setting trains alight. When we caught them we shot them to death or tortured them half dead.
From there on I finished my training at the college and was tranferred to Unit 19.
Unit 19 was, look every region had its own riot unit. Johannesburg, Pretoria, each one had its own Unit 19. Unit 19 was known as the brave thousand.
We were part of police headquarters, but we could deploy to any place in the country within hours.
During 1987 we were deployed to Bosbokrant when riot broke out there and we were in the area within a matter of a few hours.
The next one which was also quite fun was when we deployed towards the end of 1988 in Pinetown. It was in a black township, Shongweni. We camped right in the middle of the township. It was the UDM against the ANC. The UDM was friendly towards us and supplied us with information.
We mostly hunted down the ANC blokes and then we had ways and means to make them talk. From a tube to electricity. We had no shock machines. They were kept in dog kennels, fed dog biscuits and everything...
One day they attacked our base camp and we shot four... no five of them. Afterwards we had a peaceful time, but we did follow-up operations continually. There were no more attacks on our base.
The riots basically still carried on until the end of 1989.
Courtesy of The South African History Archive (SAHA)
Creator: Potgieter, De Wet Van Staden, Joppie
Contributing Institutions: The South African History Archive (SAHA); MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online at Michigan State University
Description: This is the first part of an interview with Inspector Joppie van Staden, a former police inspector attached to the bomb disposal unit, regarding the riot squad, Unit 19, and consists of an audio recording, transcript and English translation. This interview was conducted, transcribed and translated by De Wet Potgieter on behalf of SAHA in 2009.
Date: December 8, 2009
Location: Pretoria, Gauteng, Republic of South Africa
Format: Audio/mp3
Language: Afrikaans
Rights Management: The South African History Archive (SAHA)