Hendrik van den Bergh (police official)
Hendrik Johan van den Bergh South African Bureau of State Security | |
---|---|
Branch | Intelligence |
Service years | c. 1945 – 1980 |
Rank | General/Director-General |
Biography
Born in
After the war, van den Bergh rose rapidly through the police ranks. In 1963, he founded South Africa's first intelligence agency, the precursor to B.O.S.S.
Although van den Bergh denied B.O.S.S.' use of hit squads against its enemies, he is nevertheless remembered for sanctioning the use of torture, assassinations, and other tactics against the government's enemies,[1][5] and he once told a government commission, "I have enough men to commit murder if I tell them to kill. I don't care who the prey is. These are the type of men I have."[5]
In the mid-1970s, the burgeoning
B.O.S.S. became increasingly powerful as the 1970s progressed, much to the dismay of Botha; by some accounts, the organisation now wielded more influence than the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs.[2]
Nevertheless, B.O.S.S., and by extension van den Bergh himself, met its downfall just a few years later. In 1979, Vorster, who had become state president in 1978, resigned amidst the
In the aftermath of the scandal, van den Bergh retired and faded from public view to take up chicken farming. Reportedly, he was working on his memoirs in the 1980s, but abandoned the project under pressure from the government.[5] He also resigned as a member of the Afrikaner Broederbond.
Van den Bergh died at Bronkhorstspruit, Pretoria, aged 82, in 1997. He was married twice.[5]
See also
- South African Bureau of State Security
- Muldergate Scandal
Notes
- ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica Online
- ^ a b c 16 May 1969: The South African Bureau of State Security (BOSS) established South African History Online
- ^ Byrnes, Rita, M (1997). "South Africa: a country study". Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Washington D.C.: Library of Congress. Federal Research Division. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Byrnes, Rita M. (ed) South Africa: Military Intelligence and Intelligence Coordination, Library of Congress Country Studies, 1996
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Braid, Mary (21 August 1997). "Obituary: Hendrik van den Bergh". The Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- ^ Byrnes, Rita M. (ed) South Africa: The ANC and the PAC Turn to Violence, Library of Congress Country Studies, 1996
- ^ Pieter Willem Botha South African History Online
- ^ Rhoodie's Story, Time, 26 March 1979
- ^ More Dirty Tricks Archived 9 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine New Internationalist, May 1980, Issue 087
- ^ The Information Scandal Archived 18 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine South African History Online
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-14-010911-5
- Byrnes, Rita M. (ed) South Africa: A Country Study, Library of Congress Country Studies, 1996